(The following appeared on the Philadelphia Metro website on February 26, 2009.)
PHILADELPHIA. SEPTA and the union representing its drivers, conductors and mechanics could be headed for a showdown with the current contract set to expire March 15 and the transit agency’s dedicated funding due to run out in 2011.
Transport Workers Union Local 234, which represents 4,700 operators and mechanics, is seeking a five-year deal but says a lot remains to be worked out. The union said it’s hopeful a deal will be completed. In 2005, workers staged a seven-day strike – its first since a 40-day strike in 1998.
“We continue to meet and discuss the issues,” said SEPTA spokesperson Jerri Williams. “All options are on the table.”
“We think that the authority has the ability to afford giving us a good – very good – contract, and right now that’s basically all I can tell you,” said Brian Pollitt, executive vice president at Local 234. “They’ve been pretty good. There [haven’t] been any barroom brawls or anything.”
Neither Pollitt or SEPTA would say what impact Act 44 is expected to have. The legislation, created in 2007, gave the state’s largest transit agency its first-ever dedicated funding, but it could run out if the state is not allowed to toll Interstate 80 or lease the Turnpike.
And despite an increase in ridership, SEPTA profits are down significantly from a year ago. The transit agency had a $2.1 million deficit at the end of January.