Talks Continue as SEPTA Strike Looms
Transportation strike could begin the eve of the Phillies World Series home game
By TERESA MASTERSON and MARYCLAIRE DALE
Updated 12:43 PM EDT, Thu, Nov 5, 2009
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and its largest union are still in talks on a new contract, but SEPTA is warning customers that a strike could begin just after midnight tonight.
The possible strike comes on the eve of the World Series games in the city.
The Transport Workers Local 234 says its bus drivers, subway and trolley operators and mechanics will walk out if a new contract with the The two sides discussed wages, pensions and health care until 11 p.m. Thursday, but transit officials said the union did not plan to resume negotiations until 5 p.m. Friday.
SEPTA is not reached by the end of the week perhaps beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Dawn Johnson said she would be in a serious bind if SEPTA stops operating. Her two teens take city buses to high school while she drives a younger child to school. Then she boards the subway to get to work downtown.
“I don't know if I can say I blame them, even though it will put me in a bad place,” said Johnson, 35, a training coordinator and union member herself. “I sympathize.”
SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney called the earlier labor talks “constructive” but stopped short of saying any real progress was made.
The Philadelphia Phillies have come home to play their first home game in the World Series Saturday night. The fourth game of the series is scheduled for Sunday night in Philadelphia, and a fifth game, if necessary, would also be in the city Monday.
While regional rail will be available in the case of a strike, it will not help travel for people within the city limits. Anyone going to Citizen’s Bank Park from any part of the city will be out of luck when it comes to public transportation.
On health care, the union wants to keep its current contribution of 1 percent of salary, or about $10 a week on average. SEPTA wants to raise the contribution to 4 percent, noting that the contributions of city and state workers are likewise going up.
SEPTA drivers and operators earn $14.54 to $24.24 an hour, and reach top pay after four years. Mechanics make $14.40 to $27.59 an hour, SEPTA said. Their contract, which expired in March, has a no-layoff provision.
Ridership has fallen by about 37,000 people a day since July, perhaps because of the high unemployment, Maloney said. The base fare is $2.
The last SEPTA strike that idled buses, subways and trolleys was in fall of 2005.
Negotiators have been meeting in the city, and SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney says they have been making progress on noneconomic issues.
Check out the SEPTA Strike Plan.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Philadelphia
First Published: Oct 30, 2009 6:25 AM EDT
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