What to Know
- Thousands of Philadelphia mass transit system workers could go on strike soon if an agreement is not reached through ongoing negotiations.
- Transport Workers Union Local 234 members voted last week to authorize a strike once their one-year contract with SEPTA expired at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8, 2024.
- However, negotiations continued and service in Philadelphia kept rolling Friday as union workers held off on a strike.
- Union President Brian Pollitt said Thursday that he's willing to continue talks with SEPTA to avoid a work stoppage, but he warned that he may “have to pull the plug” if it doesn’t appear that progress is being made. SEPTA, which has repeatedly said its financial health is uncertain, said it remains hopeful a fair deal can be reached.
Commuters woke up Friday morning to SEPTA buses, trolleys and subway trains running as normal as a union that represents more than 5,000 SEPTA workers and the transit agency continued negotiations amid threats of a union strike.
Late on Thursday Nov. 7, SEPTA announced that they would continue negotiations on Nov. 8, with Transportation Workers Union Local 234.
"In the meantime, there will not be a strike by City Transit Division employees when their current contract expires at midnight, so all SEPTA services will continue to operate on normal schedules," SEPTA said in a statement shared with the press and on social media.
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Local 234 has about 5,000 members, including bus, subway, and trolley operators, mechanics, cashiers, maintenance people and custodians.
“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 on Nov. 7, 2024.
Transportation and Transit
Pollitt, TWU Local 234 President, said the union and SEPTA were making progress.
"I can report to you tonight that we have made some progress in our around-the-clock negotiations with
SEPTA. We have not reached an agreement, but there has been sufficient movement for us to continue talking and we are not yet calling a strike at this time. We are by no means taking the possibility of a strike off the table as we continue to fight for the best possible agreement addressing our safety and economic concerns," he said in a statement to the unions 'members Thursday night.
“After months of bargaining we finally began to make some progress over the past couple days, but we simply ran out of time. We’re willing to go the extra mile and grant additional time to reach a fair agreement,” Pollitt said.
Both the union and SEPTA are set to return to the negotiation table on Friday afternoon.
"SEPTA is committed to engaging in good-faith negotiations at the bargaining table, with the goal of reaching an agreement that is fair to our hard-working employees and to the customers and taxpayers who fund SEPTA," SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said. "Updates on these negotiations will continue to be provided as soon as new information is available."
Pollitt's union authorized a strike -- that was unanimously approved by members -- that could see SEPTA's Broad Street Line and Market-Frankford Line subways, 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, 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 had a plan in place for a SEPTA strike that could impact as many as 55,000 students.
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