PA: SEPTA strike averted in last-minute deal with transit workers union

A tentative contract deal between SEPTA and its largest employee union, Transport Workers Local 234, stopped in its tracks on Wednesday a strike that would have snarled travel in the Philadelphia region, disrupting schools, workplaces and commerce.

Reaching agreement, also averts what would have been a history-making "mega strike" of roughly 14,000 public-sector union members in transit and city services.

TWU members will get a 5% raise in a 1-year contract, as well as an unspecified pension adjustment, according to people familiar with the deal. There also is language guaranteeing measures to improve personal safety amid attacks on frontline transit workers and fears of violence, but those details could not be immediately learned

TWU and SEPTA had been bargaining almost daily since early Nov. 8 after the current contract expired and union leaders postponed a strike, agreeing to keep meeting as long as there was progress. Local 234 members have been working without a contract.

With roughly 5,000 members, Local 234 represents bus, subway, and trolley operators, mechanics, cashiers, maintenance people, and custodians — those who keep the buses, trolleys and subways moving. A strike would have shut public transit within Philadelphia city limits.

The day before, leaders of TWU Local 234, city union District Council 33, and the union representing 350 bus, trolley and Norristown High Speed Line operators, SMART Local 1594, met to discuss a possible joint strike and stressed that they were united.

SEPTA's financial woes

From the beginning of talks, SEPTA said it had little cash to spare amid a fiscal crisis. It initially offered a contract with no raises.

The one-year contract is a "reflection of the fiscal crisis that we're in ... We can only enter into agreements that we know that we will be able to pay out," said SEPTA general manager and CEO Leslie S. Richards. "If our funding had been solved, we could've entered into a multiyear agreement."

The agency has a $153 million operating deficit, which will balloon up to $240 million in the next fiscal year, as it spent the last of its share of federal pandemic relief for the nation's transit systems. And prospects in Harrisburg remain dim for a long- sought deal for an increase in operating aid for statewide public transportation providers.

Last week, the transit agency proposed a historically large across-the-board fare increase that would have riders paying 29% more than currently, beginning on New Year's. Officials also outlined a plan for deep service cuts to take effect next July.

It was unclear what affect the settlement may have on those plans.

Those 20% cuts would close some routes, shorten others and reduce the frequency of buses, trolleys, subway and El trains and Regional Rail trains. Officials said the combination of fare hikes and service reductions risks triggering decline.

"We call it a death spiral, because it sort of feeds on itself," Erik Johanson, senior director of budgets and innovation for SEPTA, said in a recent interview. In that scenario, fare revenue drops as fewer people ride transit, requiring more service cuts and price increases and so on.

News of SEPTA's plans brought calls from Philadelphia political leaders for Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and the legislature to act. State Senate Republicans have blocked the governor's proposal to raise $1.5 billion over five years for transit operations by allocating more sales tax revenue.

" Republicans in Harrisburg are responsible for this predictable but avoidable scenario," Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said last week, demanding that GOP Senate leaders move Shapiro's proposal, which has passed the state House. "The time for political games is over."

Strike-prone SEPTA

Union members said they've yet to see ballistic vests, bulletproof compartments or shields for bus and trolley operators, and other safety changes SEPTA pledged to work on during last year's contract negotiations.

SEPTA is known as one of the most strike-prone large transit systems in the country. Since 1975, at least 11 unions have walked off the job. Last year, SEPTA police officers struck for three days in December after working without a contract for nine months.

TWU last walked off the job for six days in 2016, with retirement benefits at the top of the list of issues. SEPTA's contribution to the union's workers retirement accounts did not rise in tandem with wages when they made more than $50,000. Agency contributions were not capped for managers.

Negotiations with TWU nearly went to the brink last year, but a settlement was reached in late October that gave members a 7% across the board and shortened the time needed to reach the top of the scale. They also got $3,000 retention bonuses.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Staff writer Erica Palan contributed to this article.

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