Talks resume in SEPTA strike, but no deal yet

The threat of a lawsuit aimed at forcing mediation hangs over the current negotiations to end the strike. The SEPTA strike of July 1998 may soon be only a distant yet painful memory in the minds of Philadelphians -- but don't hold your breath. After three straight days of talks, both SEPTA management and officials of the striking Transport Workers Union Local 234 are reporting modest progress in contract negotiations, but warn against undue optimism. "I don't want any one to read too much into this," SEPTA spokesperson Stephan Rosenfeld said yesterday. "There is still a huge distance to go." Union leaders called Monday's two-hour bargaining session at the Union hall near 22nd and Spring Garden streets the most "positive" since the 25-day-old strike began. The two sides met for another 90 minutes on Tuesday and again yesterday in an effort to work toward a new contract. "For the second day in a row, there are some movements here," Union President Steve Brookens told the Associated Press following Tuesday's round of negotiations, although he declined to comment on specifics. Yesterday's bargaining session was only the fifth between the two sides since union members walked off the job June 1, citing no progress in contract negotiations. The union had worked for nearly two and a half months without a contract -- which expired March 15 -- before striking. The recent proliferation of talks has prompted City Council President John Street to delay filing a planned lawsuit seeking a state-monitored negotiator to end the strike once and for all. This is the second extension Street has given SEPTA and the union as he had previously vowed to seek court intervention on Monday if the two sides had not resolved the dispute on their own. Council past a resolution last Friday authorizing such action, but Street decided to put off legal action with the commencement of Monday's negotiations. "[Street is] happy that they are having talks and meeting on a regular basis but he is not pleased with the pace of the negotiations," Street spokesperson Bruce Crawley said yesterday afternoon." But according to Rosenfeld, Street is all talk and no action. "The whole threat of this lawsuit is basically insignificant," Rosenfeld said. "I think the only people paying any attention to it at all are the media." Crawley insisted that Street is serious in his intention to take legal action if a settlement is not soon reached. "On Friday, if there's no substantive resolution to this problem, Council President Street fully intends to file a lawsuit," Crawley said. "And Stephan Rosenfeld and everyone else at SEPTA and the union can see whether he's serious or not." But reported progress in the negotiations did not stop TWU members from picketing outside SEPTA offices Tuesday. The picketers dispersed from outside the Center City buildings after only an hour, but demonstrated again outside the home of SEPTA board member Jettie Newkirk later that afternoon. Among the issues the center of the controversy are SEPTA's plans to hire more part-time workers as well as to lower the starting wager for new employees and make changes in pensions. Without the trains, trolleys and buses operated by the 5,200 striking SEPTA employees, the 435,000 area residents who rely on public transportation have had to find alternate means of transit throughout Philadelphia. The current 3 1/2-week-long work stoppage has outlasted the previous TWU strike, which shut down city transit for 15 days in the spring of 1995.