'No progress' evident in stalled SEPTA talks

The transit strike entered its second month with the union walking out of high-level negotiations. It's back to the drawing board for SEPTA and the striking Transport Workers Union Local 234 -- again. The two sides seemed to be making progress as they headed into the ninth consecutive day of negotiations on Tuesday. But talks came to a screeching halt after 3 1/2 hours when TWU President Steve Brookens stormed out citing "no progress." Although SEPTA spokesperson Stephan Rosenfeld refused to go into details as to why the talks broke down, he insisted that some progress had been made. He also added that a mediator will be brought in to jumpstart negotiations. As of yesterday afternoon, no new talks were scheduled. "We've reached out this morning to a state mediator to achieve the resumption of negotiations," Rosenfeld said yesterday morning. "Usually in these kinds of situations, the mediator will first meet with each party separately before bringing the two sides together as a group." And Tuesday's impasse was especially bothersome because the potential to reach a settlement was viewed as higher than usual due to the presence of several high-level officials who could have put an end to the strike. In attendance Tuesday were SEPTA's chief negotiator, David Cohen; TWU International Vice President Harry Lombardo; Joseph Rauscher, president of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO Council; and State Sen. Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia. Brookens told The Associated Press than he entered talks thinking a settlement was close, but accused SEPTA of reneging on several promises. But others in attendance criticized Brookens and other union officials, blaming them for the breakdown of negotiations. "There was an opportunity here [and] the leadership of TWU really missed it," Cohen told the AP Tuesday. "The level of ridiculousness for the union in these talks has really reached an historic level in Philadelphia." And Fumo, who thinking a settlement was on the horizon, dragged himself out of bed to attend negotiations despite an illness, also expressed frustration with Tuesday's outcome. "Every time you solve an issue with Mr. Brookens, he comes up with another one," Fumo told the AP. "Mr. Brookens and his executive board are not ready to solve this strike." Fumo also added that he and Brookens became engaged in a "very verbal, heated discussion" during the meeting. And to add insult to injury, Brookens organized a 200-person picket line following the breakdown of talks to march to Independence Hall -- on the same day officials from the Democratic National Convention were in town looking at Philadelphia as a possible site for their 2000 convention. Rather than cross the union's picket lines, the DNC decided to postpone the rest of their visit, to be rescheduled for an unspecified date. Although Mayor Ed Rendell said the actions of the union should not hurt Philadelphia's chances of landing the convention -- which is projected to bring $150 million to the host city -- other Philadelphia democrats were angered by the pickets. Fumo called the decision to drag the convention into the dispute a major mistake, noting that Brookens had used the "one bullet" left in his arsenal. "It's like a kamikaze mission," Fumo told the AP. Among the issues at the center of the controversy are SEPTA's plans to hire more part-time workers as well as to lower the starting wage for new employees and to make changes in pensions. The month-old strike which has left city trains, trolleys and buses at a standstill, has affected nearly 435,000 area residents who rely on public transportation. The 5,200 union members had worked for nearly two and a half months without a contract -- which expired March 15 -- before striking on June 1. The current transit freeze has already outlasted the previous TWU strike, which shut down city transportation for 15 days in the spring of 1995.