Philadelphia public transportation workers walked off the job Monday, after failing to reach a contract agreement in the country’s fifth largest city.
After their contract with Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) expired Midnight Oct. 31, approximately 4,700 workers immediately went on strike. Transport Workers (TWA) Union Local 234 represents the striking workers.
The walk-out forced hundreds of thousands of Philadelphia-area commuters to find alternative methods of transportation.
Day 3 of #SEPTAstrike & bikes are riding on the highway. I know people have to get around, but this is not safe at all! pic.twitter.com/jHs6BwGFAj
— Trang Do (@TrangDoCBS3) November 3, 2016
Thursday morning, TWA Local 234 issued a statement explaining specific contractual details that the union is still hammering out with SEPTA. While the union was still not satisfied with SEPTA’s offer, the two sides made significant progress Tuesday and Wednesday, said Willie Brown, president of TWA Local 234.
SEPTA’s board chairman, Pasquale Deon, issued a statement late Wednesday evening, asking the workers to “engage in negotiations without delay.” “Too much is at stake for either side to fail to fully engage in the negotiating process,” Deon asserted.
The strike is a result of failed negotiations over wages, pensions, healthcare and working conditions. SEPTA offered to raise average pay (with overtime) from $68,100 to $76,200 by 2021, according to local media. The union also takes issue with the current pension cap. SEPTA employee pensions are capped at $30,000 a year, which the transit authority has offered to remove along with an eight percent increase in pension benefits.
Workers currently pay $46 a month for medical coverage, and SEPTA is offering a new healthcare plan that would increase union worker monthly payments to $164 a month. The union objects to the healthcare proposal, releasing a statement saying, “We won’t apologize for trying to maintain quality affordable healthcare for our members and their families.”
Transit workers, specifically bus drivers are also asking for longer breaks and access to restrooms along routes.“We’re out here 12 hours a day and we’re going up and down the street and there’s no restrooms on the routes that we have,” Karen, a TWA bus driver, told PlanPhilly. Describing how drivers sometimes have to pull over and run into a restaurant or store mid-route, Karen said drivers must make a choice, saying, “Either go to the bathroom, or hear the public scream and holler, or hear management on your back about not keeping your schedule.”
Election Day looms heavy over negotiations. If the strike enters next week, it may have massive implications for voter turnout in Pennsylvania’s largest metropolitan area. (RELATED: Will Philadelphia’s Transit Strike Doom Hillary?)
SEPTA says that it will file an emergency injunction to force workers to work Tuesday if the strike continues into next week. Word is allegedly spreading through Philadelphia bars that SEPTA management is stalling until Friday, in order to allow an unnamed politician to come in and take credit for ending the strike.
While campaigns and politicos continue to focus on potential implications if the strike reaches Election Day, hundreds of thousands of commuters will have to continue finding alternative modes of transportation until an agreement is reached.
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