PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Leaders of SEPTA’s largest union have the power to authorize a strike if they do not agree on a new contract with the agency before the existing agreement ends in less than two weeks.
Members of Transport Workers Union Local 234 on Sunday met at the Sheet Metal Workers Union Hall on Columbus Boulevard, where they voted unanimously to give President Brian Pollitt the right to call a strike if necessary.
“It feels great that I have the right to pull the plug — and, make no mistake, I don’t want to. I want to continue to bargain fairly in hopes that we can reach a good deal,” he said. “But if I have to [call a strike], I will.”
The TWU Local 234 contract with the transit agency expires at midnight on Nov. 7. Negotiations for a new one started earlier this year, but wages and other financial issues, as well as worker and rider safety, have been the major points of contention preventing union leaders from signing a contract.
“We’re looking for safety — the safety and security of my members, as well as the riding public — and economic justice,” said Pollitt.
SEPTA has offered the union a one-year contract that does not include a raise.
Apart from financial concerns, union leaders say SEPTA is not responding adequately to the dangers faced by frontline workers, citing the death of Bernard Gribbin, the Route 23 bus driver and 12-year SEPTA veteran who was shot six times in the chest a year ago. In a recent letter from the union to its members, the heading read: “SEPTA to TWU Local 234: Drop Dead,” imitating the famous New York Daily News headline.
The union wants protection for drivers and other SEPTA workers, the adoption of policing changes recommended by the union, and paid time off for workers to address the mental health effects of witnessing violent crimes on SEPTA vehicles, according to a recent statement.
There was a shooting on or at a SEPTA bus once a day for a four-day period in March of this year: a passenger shot and killed as he stepped off a bus in Oxford Circle; an Imhotep Institute Charter High School student shot and killed as he boarded a Route 6 bus in Ogontz, as well as five more people wounded; a passenger shot and killed by another passenger on a Route 79 bus in South Philly; and eight Northeast High School students injured when three gunmen opened fire at a SEPTA bus stop in Burholme.
A strike would not affect Regional Rail, but it would bring buses, trolleys and subways to a halt.
Pollitt says he’s working to keep workers off the picket line and says union leaders are scheduled to meet with SEPTA brass Monday afternoon, when the transit agency will make a financial presentation.
SEPTA is currently facing a massive budget hole and lawmakers in Harrisburg can't come to an agreement over additional funding.
“We’re going to continue to bargain in good faith in hopes we come to a good deal,” Pollitt said.
SEPTA says it's "committed to engaging in good-faith negotiations", but says the unresolved budget crisis is a "major factor in these negotiations".
TWU Local 234 represents roughly 5,000 transit vehicle operators, mechanics, maintenance workers, cashiers and custodians.