PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With a threatened strike less than a week away, SEPTA and its largest union are reporting some progress in contract talks.
A spokesman for Transport Workers Union Local 234 said there has “movement” in negotiations this week, with some “positive developments.”
“We have seen some progress in those negotiations,” SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch told KYW Newsradio.
The current five-year deal with the union representing 5,000 city bus, train and trolley operators runs out at midnight Sunday night.
The union membership has authorized its leadership to call a strike if an agreement isn’t reached.
“If needed, we would go into the mode of having those 24-hour-at-the-table type of negotiations,” Busch said. “But we’ve been able to make progress so far with shorter but productive meetings.”
The union is seeking wage increases, a parental leave policy and more safety on the job. SEPTA maintains it is losing $1 million in revenue each day, and ridership is less than half of pre-COVID-19 levels.
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SEPTA has posted a guide for riders if there is a strike on Monday.
“We’re hopeful that there isn’t going to be a service interruption, but we are putting information up on our website,” Busch said.
Regional rail trains would continue to run during a city transit strike, and Busch said SEPTA aims to offer more frequent service should a walkout occur.
“There are some possible adjustments that we can make to regional rail to try to add some capacity for riders in the city on a temporary basis,” he said.
Busch said in the event of a strike, suburban bus routes would not continue into the city.