(The following story by Paul Nussbaum appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on October 23, 2009.)
PHILADELPHIA — SEPTA’s largest union, Transport Workers Union 234, could take a step closer to a strike on Sunday when the members vote on whether to authorize union leaders to call a walkout.
The union, which represents bus drivers, subway and trolley operators, and mechanics, has been without a contract since early spring.
SEPTA and the union remain far apart in sporadic negotiations over wages, benefits, and subcontracting issues.
A strike by city and suburban transit unions would mean a suspension of service on all bus, trolley, and subway lines. That last happened in 2005 during a SEPTA strike that lasted seven days.
Regional Rail trains would still operate because their crews are covered by separate contracts.
The TWU has been seeking annual wage increases of 6 percent and a $25-per-month increase in pension payments for each year of service.
SEPTA has not made public its offer, but its budget assumes a 3 percent increase in labor costs and a nearly 8 percent increase in fringe benefits.
The TWU is also seeking changes in subcontracting and training provisions of the contract to allow TWU members to do more warranty and other repair work now done by outside workers.
SEPTA bus, subway, and trolley operators earn from $14.54 to $24.24 per hour, reaching the top rate after four years. Mechanics earn $14.40 to $27.59 an hour.
TWU members contribute 1 percent of their pay to their medical-insurance coverage.
The contract expired March 15 for about 4,700 operators and mechanics in the City Transit Division, which operates the Broad Street Subway, the Market-Frankford Line, the subway-surface trolleys, and city bus routes.
Contracts expired in April for TWU Local 234, Suburban Transit Division, Victory District, which represents about 160 maintenance and clerical employees, and TWU Local 234, Suburban Transit Division, Frontier District, which represents about 220 bus drivers in Montgomery and Bucks Counties.
Also working without a contract since April are members of United Transportation Union Local 1594, Suburban Transit Division, Victory District, which represents about 340 vehicle operators on routes based at 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby.
SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said, “We’ve been talking. Both sides are very familiar with all the issues. We think we can get a deal. . . . There’s no need for a strike.”
TWU Local 234 president Willie Brown did not respond to calls seeking comment on the Sunday vote.