PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — No Thanksgiving strike by SEPTA Transit Police. The Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 president says while negotiations continue, they won't go on strike before Dec. 13.
That's when the union’s president, Omari Bervine, says he'll present SEPTA's latest contract offer to his members — for a vote to accept it or go on strike.
"We're going to let the members decide. If it goes up, that's great. We've got a new contract. If it goes down, we will be on strike effective immediately," Bervine said.
"We're cops, but we can do math. And those numbers just don't add up for my people.”
He says his members want the same deal that the Transport Workers Union Local 234 got. Earlier this month, Local 234 ratified a one-year deal with a 7% raise, after its previous two-year contract offered 3% raises each year.
"We're seeking parity in terms of the contracts that were offered to [TWU] 234. It's already been put out there. … If we could get that, we'd have a deal done."
SEPTA on Tuesday offered the transit police union a two-year contract with 3% salary increases each year. Bervine says an economist will review SEPTA's two-and-three-year contract proposals for the union, to see how they compare to the TWU deal.
SEPTA, which faces the end of federal COVID relief next year, made the following statement:
“We urge FOTP leadership to continue to engage in negotiations so that we can reach an agreement on a contract that is fair to our hard-working police officers and is financially responsible for the Authority as a whole.”