PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — One day after transport workers authorized a strike, SEPTA and its largest union are back at the bargaining table.
Face-to-face negotiations have resumed between SEPTA and Transport Workers Union Local 234. The current one-year contract expires at midnight on Nov. 7, and the strike authorization gives union leadership the power to call a strike after that if progress isn’t made on a new contract.
With federal COVID relief running out, SEPTA is trying to fill a $240 million budget gap, and contract talks have been complicated by the absence of a transit funding deal in Harrisburg. Because of that, SEPTA has offered Local 234 another one-year deal without raises, a proposal the union has rejected.
The transport workers are demanding safety protections be written into the labor contract, noting that twice this month, passengers were shot aboard SEPTA buses.
The last SEPTA strike was a six-day stoppage in 2016.