PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Three days after the union said a strike was imminent, SEPTA and the Transport Workers Union Local 234 have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract to keep the city’s buses, subways and trolleys running.
The deal offers the 5,000 members of TWU annual raises of 3.5% each year. It also increases pension benefits, which had been a sticking point in negotiations, and changes work rules to make accessing dental and vision benefits easier.
The union, which represents bus, subway and trolley operators, had been working without a contract since Nov. 7 and said Friday that a strike was imminent as negotiations stalled. Over the weekend, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office got involved, aiding in negotiations at Shapiro’s Philadelphia office.
Union President Will Vera, in a statement, said, “Without the governor’s intervention, we would have been on strike.”
SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said Shapiro did not offer any new money to the cash-strapped agency to make the deal possible. Sauer said all the funds SEPTA needed were budgeted for in the money that Shapiro transferred last month.
“Everybody knows the year that we’ve had. We didn’t need a strike, also, to be one more thing our customers had to deal with," Sauer said.
The union’s membership will have to vote to approve the deal before it is finalized, which could happen as soon as Monday afternoon.
“The TWU 234 sets the pattern. So we will present similar contracts to each of the remaining unions, and then we’ll go into discussions there," Sauer said.
Sauer said he’s viewing the deal as a springboard to safer and more reliable SEPTA service.