SEPTA workers' union pres.: I'll ‘do everything I have to do to avoid a strike'

With a strike looming, the president of the union that represents more than 5,000 SEPTA workers told reporters on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, that he's willing to work around the clock in order to avoid a strike.

“I’ll roll my sleeves up and bang on the table and do everything I have to do to avoid a strike,” Transportation Workers Union Local 234 President Brian Pollitt told reporters.

Pollitt's union is just hours away from going on strike -- that was unanimously approved by members -- that could see SEPTA's Broad Street line, Market-Frankford line, trolleys and at least 104 bus routes shuttered.

Union members are seeking a wage increase as well as safety and security improvements for workers.

“You need money to live through life and that’s what we want, we need a raise," Pollitt said.

Asked Thursday about SEPTA's financial woes, Pollitt said that the mass transit agency is sitting on a $600 million "rainy day fund" and, it needs to loosen the purse strings.

“We aren’t asking for $600 million dollars. But we are asking for a little bit," he said.

Also, Pollitt said that the union has been working on securing a contract for months and, unless management changes its stance, he fears a strike will happen.

“If they continue to posture and take the same position that they have been taking since June, trust and believe the line is drawn in the sand and we are gone," he said.

In an interview on Thursday, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said that the mass transit provider doesn't have a "rainy day fund" and, the fund that Pollitt was referencing doesn't have $600 million in it either.

“That definitely is not the case," Busch said when asked about the fund.

Instead, Busch called it a service stabilization fund that the mass transit provider uses to pay bills.

But, he said, the balance of that fund varies greatly -- he believed it was currently at about $300 million and, as SEPTA faces a financial crisis, he believes the funds are "disappearing much faster."

“It’s what’s been able to allow us to continue to operate without service cuts,” Busch said.

Also, he noted, SEPTA can't draw on that account for employee salaries.

“It’s not a source that we can use for raises,” he said. “That’s got to come from our regular budget.”

Otherwise, Busch said that SEPTA is committed to continue negotiations and is also willing to work around the clock until a deal is reached.

The School District of Philadelphia is already bracing for a SEPTA strike that could impact as many as 55,000 students.