SEPTA city union to work past contract

SEPTA's city bus, subway, and trolley operators won't strike when their contract expires Sunday morning, their union leaders said as talks continued between the transit agency and Transport Workers Union Local 234.

"We understand that the riding public depends on our members getting them to and from work . . . that is why we are determined to keep negotiating until we reach an agreement," Local 234 president Willie Brown said in a statement yesterday.

Brown said the union had not taken a strike-authorization vote. "We won't take a strike vote unless we feel it is necessary, and as long as we feel we are making progress in negotiations, the riding public has nothing to worry about from our union."

The contract that is to expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday covers about 4,700 operators and mechanics in the City Transit Division, which operates the Broad Street Subway, the Market-Frankford Line, the subway-surface trolleys, and city bus routes.

"We will do whatever we have to do. We will talk around the clock," union executive vice president Brian Pollitt said as he prepared to return to talks with SEPTA negotiators at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel. "We have not set a deadline."

The union announcement "takes a lot of pressure off the business community and the schools," which rely on SEPTA, agency spokesman Richard Maloney said.

SEPTA issued a statement saying it "remains committed to bargaining in good faith with the sincere hope that a new agreement can be reached."

The two sides said they remained far apart on wages, benefits, and subcontracting issues.

Workers will stay on under the provisions of the current contract if it expires before a new agreement is reached.

Three suburban SEPTA union contracts are set to expire early next month, so a strike postponement now by the TWU could set up a coordinated strike threat then. A strike by city and suburban transit unions would mean a suspension of service on all bus, trolley, and subway lines.

That happened in 2005 during the last SEPTA strike, which lasted seven days.

Regional Rail trains would still operate in the event of a transit strike because their crews are covered by separate contracts.

The other soon-to-expire contracts are:

April 1 - United Transportation Union Local 1594, Suburban Transit Division, Victory District, which represents about 340 vehicle operators on routes based at 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby.

April 1 - TWU Local 234, Suburban Transit Division, Victory District, which represents about 160 maintenance and clerical employees.

April 6 - TWU Local 234, Suburban Transit Division, Frontier District, which represents about 220 bus drivers in Montgomery and Bucks Counties.

Pollitt said that the other unions were allies of the city local but that there was no plan now for a coordinated job action.

The TWU seeks 6 percent annual raises and a $25-per-month increase in pension payments for each year of service.

SEPTA has not made public its offer, but its proposed budget for next fiscal year assumes a 3 percent increase in labor costs and a nearly 8 percent increase in fringe benefits.

Brown said the TWU sought changes in subcontracting and training provisions of the contract to allow TWU members to do more warranty and other repair work now done by outside workers.

SEPTA bus, subway, and trolley operators earn from $14.54 to $24.24 per hour, reaching the top rate after four years. Mechanics earn $14.40 to $27.59 an hour.

TWU members contribute 1 percent of their pay to their medical-insurance coverage.