As SEPTA union members could potentially go on strike starting next week, Penn has a plan to provide alternative transportation options.
Though SEPTA union members voted unanimously on Sunday in support of a strike, union leadership announced today that a strike does not seem imminent.
“There will be no strike in the immediate future. I can’t promise anything beyond this week,” TWU Local 234 Union President Willie Brown said during a press conference this afternoon.
Brown said SEPTA will give the public 24 hours’ notice if a strike is called, although SEPTA spokesperson Jerri Williams told the Philadelphia Inquirer that “we would hope that our riders would get at least 48 hours’ notice so they can make alternative plans.”
Penn has been prepared for this possibility since it released a SEPTA Strike Contingency Plan in April, when SEPTA workers had previously threatened to strike . In collaboration with Drexel University, Penn Health System and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia , Penn Transit Services outlined a plan to offer a campus bus service and make parking areas available to people who usually rely on SEPTA to get to work.
For example, busses will pick morning commuters up in front of Fado Irish Pub at 15th and Locust streets and by the 69th Street Terminal. After work, busses will run from 33rd and Walnut streets back to the two locations.
The ongoing possibility for strike stems from the issue of pension payment equality. Compared to SEPTA management, union members believe they are contributing more money while receiving fewer benefits. SEPTA union workers currently contribute 3.5 percent of their pre-overtime pay to the pension fund.
With over 5,000 SEPTA workers, TWU Local 234 — the largest of SEPTA’s 17 worker unions — has been in negotiations with SEPTA management for over six months. Since the other 16 unions tend to follow the contract patterns of TWU, thousands of SEPTA workers have been working without contract since the prior five-year pact expired last spring.
TWU and SEPTA management are set to formally continue negotiations on Tuesday.
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