Philly labor leader Esteban Vera Jr. named to SEPTA board

Esteban Vera Jr., business manager of Laborers Union Local 57 in Philadelphia, has been appointed to the SEPTA board of directors, the first Latino to serve on the transit agency’s governing body.

He was named to the post by State House Minority Leader Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), who announced the appointment Thursday in a statement.

Vera Jr., 41, grew up in North Philadelphia and is a veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Bosnia in the 1990s. He worked in construction before becoming an organizer for the Laborers and rising in the ranks of the union’s leadership.

The governments of the five counties SEPTA serves — Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia — each appoint two members to the board. The governor appoints one, and the leaders of the party caucuses in the state House and Senate also get one pick each.

“The people I represent depend on SEPTA services every day to get to their jobs, to school, to medical visits, to go shopping — and despite huge challenges during the pandemic SEPTA has continued to be there for people who rely on it,” McClinton said.

Vera joins the board as SEPTA faces the challenges of recovering ridership lost during the pandemic and the need to secure a steady source of state funding.

“SEPTA quite literally ties our region together and it should never be taken for granted,” Vera said. “Especially going forward after the COVID-19 pandemic, we will need to make careful decisions to ensure SEPTA can continue to fulfill its vital mission.”