A group of Farmingdale's Hispanic immigrant day laborers were joined by local church parishioners and other supporters this week in a peaceful demonstration against the Village of Farmingdale's ongoing crackdown on public hiring practices.

Holding signs that read, "We Need Jobs to Eat," and "Mayor Trudden Stop the Tickets," the workers pleaded publicly with the village to stop ticketing the trucks that come to pick them up for landscaping and construction work on Conklin Street. Morning protests were staged along Conklin Street on Tuesday and Wednesday, and organizers said they would continue until their concerns are heard by the village. The low-wage workers, who say the ticketing has driven employers away, were joined by organizers from the Workplace Project, a Hempstead-based advocacy group for immigrant workers on Long Island, as well as leaders and parishioners from St. Kilian's Catholic Church, Farmingdale.

"All they want is to stop the tickets while we negotiate a new site," said Carlos Canales, an organizer with the Workplace Project. He noted that due to the ticketing, the workers have requested that the village assign them an alternate pick-up site within the village, but that the municipality has only suggested sites outside the village, in Suffolk County.

Within the past year, the Village of Farmingdale has beefed up traffic code compliance patrols against contractors in the area, in response to the formation of two shape-up sites - pick-up points for workers - on corners along Conklin Street. The village also posted signs that prohibit standing or stopping between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. along the busiest areas of Conklin, and village code enforcement officials have issued numerous tickets. The municipal actions were taken in response to complaints from surrounding residents, who complained of loitering by the workers, and said the shape-up sites were a traffic hazard. In January, representatives of the day laborers estimated that the crackdown had caused a 75 percent drop in the availability of work, because the summonses discouraged contractors from picking up workers in Farmingdale. At Wednesday morning's protest, one worker, Juan, noted that the situation has worsened, and that now, just about none of the workers who wait to be picked up are finding jobs. He added that most are surviving on savings, and assistance from family and charity food pantries.

"We hope that they give us a site, and to be respected as workers," said Juan, adding, "We want to be included in the solution."

"We want to preserve this corner, because from this corner, I get the money to buy clothing and food for me and my family," said another worker, Erik.

Asked what the goal of the protest is, Randy Jackson, assistant director of the Workplace Project, said, "The immediate thing is to stop the ticketing, because people are going hungry."

He added, "As a group, the Workplace Project and the workers are looking for the village to make a commitment to invest in a solution to the problem, because the workers are willing to do so."

Canales noted that this week's demonstration marks the first time that the Hispanic workers have publicly voiced their views on the issue in Farmingdale.

Lisa Molluso, director of St. Kilian Social Outreach, who has been trying to help the workers find a solution to the issue, was among the church supporters present at the demonstration. Calling the presence of some Farmingdale residents at the protest a sign of solidarity, she said, "I'm glad that we're beginning to get community support for this."

While some local residents have voiced opposition to the public hiring practices on Conklin Street, citing loitering and traffic hazards as problems stemming from it, those who turned out at the protest represented a departure from that segment of public opinion.

Leo Marcotte, a resident of South Farmingdale and St. Kilian's parishioner, said he was standing with the workers because he believes the ticketing discriminates against Hispanic people. "That part of me which is American Indian believes that we are all invaders to this country. We need to respect one another," he said.

Don Zirkel, a deacon at St. Kilian's Church, said the workers are also subject to harassment and discrimination. "What particularly upsets me now is the uneven law enforcement," he said, noting that an ice cream delivery truck that had stopped under the "No Stopping or Standing from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m." sign during the protest had not received a summons from the code enforcement officer on duty there.

The Village of Farmingdale has released the following statement in response to the protest: "One of the primary concerns of the Village of Farmingdale is the safety and well-being of residents and visitors alike. That is why the signs that prohibit stopping or standing from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. on heavily traveled areas of Conklin Street were enacted. They must remain in effect. The regulations were put in place to prevent unnecessary tragedy, not to stop hard-working individuals from getting employment. The village will continue to cooperate with the Workplace Project, an advocacy group based in Hempstead, to assist workers and encourage them to meet in safer locations out of the main flow of traffic."