Accord brings end to long SEPTA strike

and Scott Lanman A citywide transit strike threw Philadelphia into a fit for 40 days this summer, leaving many streets jammed with cars and taxis as about 435,000 regular SEPTA riders struggled to find other ways to get to work. The strike was one of the longest in SEPTA history and the first since 1995. After threatening to strike for months, the Transport Workers Union finally walked off of their jobs June 1 after deciding that the on-and-off negotiations were unlikely to bridge the differences between the two sides. SEPTA and the union were arguing over the issues of workers' compensation and the hiring of part-time workers. City buses, subways and trolleys were all grounded during the strike. Regional rail trains were running as usual because workers on those lines are members of a different union that did not strike, though TWU picketers managed to shut down some lines occasionally during the strike. Officials from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the TWU Local 234 reached a tentative oral agreement on July 10 to end the strike. The two sides, however, still had not reached a written agreement as of Tuesday. No deadline has been set in the latest negotiations, said union spokesperson Tony Lieggi. Both the union and SEPTA's 17-member board would have to ratify the proposed contract. "We're hopeful though [about a new contract]," SEPTA spokesperson Stephan Rosenfeld said in late July. "What is important is that the system is operating and the passengers are being served." The University was ready for the strike. Transportation officials arranged to ferry 25,000 riders at a cost of $24,000 during the walkout. "It was relatively cheap when you look at it.? It cost less than $1 a person," Transportation Services Manager Ron Ward said in July. "I think we did a bang-up job. And if there's another strike in three years we'll be even better prepared." After the strike ended, SEPTA provided free rides for a few days and then for the three remaining Fridays in July in an effort to win back customers. Although the two sides thought they had resolved the two key sticking points -- that of part-time drivers and workers' compensation -- the issues resurfaced in the process of drawing up a final contract. On July 10, SEPTA and TWU leaders finally agreed to limit workers' compensation benefits and also to send the most troublesome issue of part-time drivers to binding arbitration. However, the two sides have spent the interim fighting over the precise limitations to compensation benefits as well as the exact number of part-timers the arbitrator can consider in the decision. Rosenfeld said he expects that the remaining disputes will be resolved through ongoing discussions between SEPTA and TWU. "We believe that our requests are reasonable," he said in July. "All we're asking them to do is agree to what they agreed to on July 10." It remains to be seen whether SEPTA ridership will return to pre-strike levels. "We'll have to wait and see" if SEPTA can win back riders, TWU business agent Bruce Bodner said in July. "I think it will be hard and it will probably take years to win them all back." The 5,200-member union had been working for almost 2 1/2 months without a contract -- which expired March 15 -- before walking off the job, citing no progress in negotiations. The contract proposal calls for 3 percent annual raises. It will increase pension benefits by about 32 percent for the average worker. Pension compensation is typically determined by a worker's salary at the time of retirement -- the greater the earnings, the greater the pension. Under the new contract, pensions will be calculated by looking at the last six years of service and using only the three best. SEPTA had originally wanted to use only the final three years, which the union protested because older workers typically cannot put in as much overtime as their younger counterparts and therefore earn less as they approach retirement. But in an effort to cut costs, SEPTA also set out to cap workers' compensation for injured employees, who currently receive benefits indefinitely. The two sides finally agreed on a year of benefits for new employees and for veteran employees, 9 weeks of coverage for every year of service. The two sides also agreed to send the most troublesome issue -- the hiring of part-timers -- to binding arbitration. The union had previously offered to send the entire dispute to arbitration -- an offer SEPTA refused. Although union and SEPTA officials would not single out any specific individual to credit in bringing about a settlement, Mayor Ed Rendell was emphatic in his praise of Congressman Bob Brady (D.-Pa.), who held the negotiations together in the last 48 hours. "I want to single out the work of Bob Brady," Rendell said at a July 10 news conference marking the re-opening of the transit system. "Make no mistake, Bob Brady got us back on track." But Brady -- a former leader from the carpenter's union and chairperson of the local Democratic party -- was hesitant to accept the credit. "I was just trying to keep people talking, that's all I did," Brady said during the week after the strike ended. "Both sides just needed someone to keep them talking and get rid of egos." Bodner and Rosenfeld agreed that it was the duration of the strike and its effect on the city which finally produced a settlement. "[The strike] was hurting the city and so officials, namely the mayor, had to face their responsibility and help get a contract to get things moving again," Bodner said. Also during the strike, members of the Democratic National Committee were slated to visit Philadelphia to examine it as a possible site for the 2000 Democratic National Convention. The visitors, however, refused to cross picket lines and packed their bags not long after they arrived. The DNC has rescheduled its visit for September 15-17.

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