(The following story by Paul Nussbaum appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on November 5, 2009.)
PHILADELPHIA — In the face of public opposition and political pressure, the leader of striking SEPTA workers vowed yesterday to “stay out as long as it takes” to get a better contract offer from SEPTA.
Willie Brown, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, also blasted Mayor Nutter as a “little Caesar” who would not be welcomed back to the negotiating table.
No talks were scheduled.
The second day of the strike by SEPTA bus drivers, subway and trolley operators, and mechanics brought more transportation misery to the region, with commuters and students stuck in traffic jams and stranded on train platforms.
To add to the day’s woes, a Regional Rail train carrying 500 passengers caught fire in West Philadelphia, halting service on SEPTA’s busiest rail line for two hours during the morning rush. No one was injured, but some riders had to escape the train through its windows.
In Delaware County, SEPTA obtained a court order to limit pickets at suburban bus and trolley lines, after strikers disrupted routes that were operating because their drivers belong to a different union. The temporary restraining order will allow the 101 and 102 trolley routes and suburban Victory Division buses to operate as usual, spokesman Richard Maloney said.
Seeking to end the strike, Gov. Rendell spoke with SEPTA officials yesterday and is to talk face to face today with union leaders.
“He’s going to keep working on it,” Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma said.
Brown said he welcomed Rendell’s intervention, but would not meet with Nutter.
Brown said the strikers would “stay out as long as it takes to secure our pension.”
SEPTA’s funding of the workers’ pensions has become the main sticking point in negotiations over a contract that Rendell yesterday described as “sensational.”
The five-year contract offer from SEPTA included a $1,250 signing bonus upon ratification, a 2.5 percent raise the second year, and a 3 percent raise in each of the final three years.
It also called for no increase in the workers’ health-insurance contributions, which is 1 percent of base pay. It called for an increase in workers’ contributions to their pensions, as well as an increase in the maximum pension payment to retirees.
In addition to increased pension contributions from SEPTA, the union is seeking a wage increase of 3 percent for each year of a four-year contract.
SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey challenged Brown and the TWU leadership to present the agency’s offer to the members.
“I guarantee you it would be ratified by the membership, if not unanimously, then overwhelmingly,” Casey said. “It’s an extremely generous contract.”
Brown said the union would accept SEPTA’s wage offer over five years if SEPTA withdrew its demand for more pension contributions from workers.
“If the offer is an 11 percent increase without taking any more money out of our pockets, we’ll take it,” Brown said.
Brown said Rendell’s offer to give SEPTA $6 million from an economic-development fund in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to help pay for the contract sweeteners gave him clout in the negotiations.
On the other hand, Brown said, “Mayor Nutter has brought nothing to the table but dissension.” He blamed the mayor for insisting there would be no strike despite the lack of an agreement.
Nutter’s press secretary, Douglas Oliver, responded: “Even if he doesn’t respect the mayor, he should at least respect schoolchildren, seniors, job seekers, and the countless other people who are being negatively impacted by this labor action. Instead of hurling personal attacks, the public would be best served if Mr. Brown stayed focused on a speedy return to the negotiating table and an even speedier end to this strike.”
Brown said the union wanted SEPTA to increase funding of the workers’ pension fund, which he said was funded at about 52 percent of its payment obligations. By contrast, he said, management’s pension fund was funded at nearly 90 percent.
Casey acknowledged that both union and management pension funds had lost money in the stock market downturn. He said the management pension fund was financed at about 70 percent of its liability.
He said the SEPTA contract proposal called for workers to increase their contribution to the pension fund from 2 percent of base pay to 3 percent in the third year of the contract and to 3.5 percent in the fourth year.
The SEPTA contract proposal would increase the maximum pension payout to retired workers with 30 years of service to $30,000 a year, from the current $27,000, an 11 percent increase. The pension boost would be smaller for those with fewer years.
The union appeared to have won little sympathy from its riders or the general public.
In interviews, phone calls, and comments on Web sites, people accused the TWU of being out of touch with economic reality in tough times.
“We just had layoffs and lost a bunch of people,” said Tina Muheim, 44, a project manager for a Center City insurance company. “People were saying, ‘I’d rather not get a raise, if I can keep my job.’ In the real world, nothing is guaranteed. The world they live in is not the real world.”
Chris Mason, an accountant from Ardmore, said, “The company I work for instituted a 10 percent pay cut, took away the employer match to the 401(k), and put us on a four-day workweek.
“The union workers should be grateful to have a job, let alone expect increases in salaries and benefits.”
But union officials said SEPTA was receiving more money than ever and could afford to pay more.
“We know these are difficult times for many in our community and across the nation,” Brown said yesterday. “However, the city transit division of SEPTA is experiencing record levels of ridership, record levels of revenue, and an unprecedented infusion of $200 million in federal stimulus dollars, a portion of which is directed to operating costs. Our modest pension proposals would not create a financial hardship for the authority in any way.”
Nutter yesterday expressed continued frustration with the strike and the “tremendous hassle” it brings, though he said the city was “up and running.”
“The only way this is going to get resolved is at a bargaining table, not out on a picket line, not at press conferences. Parties have to sit and talk, negotiate, and make a commitment to stay there until this matter is resolved,” he said.
At Suburban Station during the evening rush, lines of commuters snaked in every direction, amid controlled chaos as SEPTA office workers managed the flow of train riders.
“Please take your time. There’s no need to rush. Have a great day,” Maryanne McQuaid, who normally works at a desk making bus schedules, announced to the line descending to the R3-West Trenton platform.
Mary Gibbs, 40, waited an hour to get to the stairs to Track 3 for her R3-Media train. “This is the longest line I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said. “It’s terrible.”
At the 69th Street Terminal during the start of a light evening rush, striker Rodney Anderson said he was “mad at SEPTA and the union.”
Anderson, wearing an “On Strike for Justice” sign, said: “We should have been out here during the World Series. We have no leverage now.”
Anderson, a SEPTA cashier on the Market-Frankford Line for 18 years, said he wasn’t quite sure why he was on strike.
He said he had heard it was because of the pension, “but what about the pension?”
Anderson said he hoped the strike was resolved soon. He’s ready to go back to work.
“There’s no money coming into my house right now,” he said.
Anderson said he had to leave the picket line to go to the airport to pick up his wife. She had no other way to get home.