SEPTA, union won’t strike at midnight; contract negotiations continue

PHILADELPHIA – SEPTA and union workers are negotiating, and the two sides report there will be no strike at midnight due to progress in negotiations.

As of 10 p.m. Thursday, talks were said to have been positive, and the two sides had, according to Transport Workers Union Local 234 president Brian Pollitt, in a statement to the union, “We have made progress in negotiations around the clock.”

SEPTA then released their own statement, saying:

“SEPTA and TWU Local 234 will continue negotiations for a new contract tomorrow, Friday, November 8. In the meantime, there will be no strike by City Transit Division employees when their current contract expires at midnight, so all SEPTA services will continue to operate on normal schedules.”

Meanwhile, parents were very worried about how a possible strike might affect their children. Marlene Idopcil said: “Unfortunately, they all make it to the bus. Mom can’t drive everyone to school.”

She said her four children depend on SEPTA to get to school in Center City, North Philly and in the Northeast.

Since June, the Transport Workers Union Local 234 has been in contract negotiations with SEPTA for higher wages and job security. It is the largest union in SEPTA with 5,000 members representing operators of city buses, trolleys, the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad Street Line.

A strike will affect all these services.

Union leaders are proposing a one-year deal with a 10 percent pay increase, but SEPTA says it faces a significant financial crisis.

SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch explained, “We’re looking at about a quarter billion dollar budget deficit, and that’s about 20 percent of all our expenses for the year, and that’s what goes into running the system every day.”

Pollitt, noted, “It’s funny how SEPTA will tell you about the fiscal cliff and a $200 million shortfall, but what they won’t tell you is $600 million in a rainy day fund. We’re not asking for $600 million, but we ask for a little.”