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(The following story by Jere Downs appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on March 8.)

PHILADELPHIA — SEPTA and the union representing workers who operate buses and subways in Philadelphia agreed yesterday to extend the deadline for reaching a new contract from March 15 until April 15.

Jeff Brooks, head of the Transport Workers Union Local 234 said he accepted the one-month extension offered by SEPTA to give riders some relief.

“Our objective is a partnership with the riding public, not just to pull the trigger just because I can,” Brooks said yesterday.

“We have been talking about the extension for several days,” SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said. “Given the complexity and number of issues that are outstanding, this extra time will enable us to sit down in a very professional way and knock them off.”

Both sides said the extra time was also needed in light of last week’s financial boost from Gov. Rendell.

In the current negotiations, SEPTA wants veteran Local 234 members to contribute regularly to the cost of their health care, among other issues.

Rather than yield on health care last year, former union chief Jean Alexander agreed to an unusual one-year contract that preserved existing benefits, intending to give state officials time to increase mass-transit funding. SEPTA and the union typically agree to three-year contracts.

The union, which represents more than 5,000 transit operators, mechanics and cashiers, last went on strike in 1998 for 40 days.

Riders appreciate yesterday’s reprieve, said Marc Stier, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition.

Having lived with threats of draconian cuts and fare hikes for the last two years, the union-led nonprofit coalition had been dreading next week’s deadline, Stier said.

“We certainly want to see a fair labor agreement and, most of all, an agreement,” he said.