UPDATED: 7:53 p.m.
The union was planning a morning work stoppage unless SEPTA met its demands to better safeguard members from the coronavirus.
Brown said Kenney and Deputy Mayor for Labor Rich Lazer asked the union not to take an action that would keep essential personnel from getting to work.
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So Brown said he agreed to give the mayor time to talk with SEPTA.
"If the mayor can step in and he can help us get it resolved without causing some kind of ruckus or job action, we have to give him a couple of days to do it,” Brown said.
Brown said he got a letter from SEPTA indicating the transit agency is willing to institute employee temperature scans and contact tracing, as the union had demanded — but not to the union's desire for a four-day-on, three-day-off maintenance schedule to allow for social distancing.
While the negotiations go on, Brown said he's agreed to hold off on any job action for "a couple of days."
Brown said more than 100 of his members have tested positive — one Regional Rail worker and three in the City Transit Division have died.
He said positive cases are spiking in the crowded maintenance shops.
“We have a spike with our people in the shops,” Brown added. “They’re starting to test positive because they're all on top of one another.”
The union also wants better cleaning procedures and temperature screenings for employees.
SEPTA said it's been working closely with its unions during the crisis and is committed to continuing a dialogue with Local 234.
SEPTA said in a statement it's looking at other options to maintain core services, like limited operations on the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines. Details are forthcoming.
Sanitation changes may be coming
With concerns from the union that its workers aren't properly protected, sanitation changes using a solution that can be made in-house may be on the way to stations, rail cars and buses.
SEPTA’s Jim Fox said salt, water, and electricity are the only ingredients needed for a new sanitizer.
And Alan Lloyd, an industrial hygienist who tested the effectiveness of the mix on a SEPTA bus during a demonstration, said the solution performed very well.
“You take a before reading, and you take an after reading, and the reduction shows you the effectiveness of your cleaning solution,” Lloyd explained.
Fox said they are going to look deeper into the science of the product, as well as talk with their industry peers about some of their best practices and recommendations before they make any decisions about cleaning products they may use.
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