Public transit in and around the city of Philadelphia is set to continue uninterrupted, for now. However, the ongoing dispute between SEPTA and the largest union representing its workers appears no closer to a resolution.
On Tuesday, officials from SEPTA and Transport Workers Union Local 234 sat down to discuss the extension of transit workers' contracts, which were due to expire yesterday after a deal reached in April extended them for two months.
The two sides were unable to come to consensus. SEPTA first proposed that the contracts be extended until Jan. 31 of next year. Union officials rejected this offer, proposing instead to extend the contracts only until this Sept. 5. When SEPTA turned down this plan, workers nevertheless agreed to continue working instead of going on strike.
SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said that by seeking the January extension, SEPTA officials hoped to guarantee service through major events, such as the beginning of the school year and the holiday shopping season.
TWU spokesman Bob Bedard said that the union rejected this proposal because it offered no increase in wages nor betterment of working conditions, meaning that workers would have seen no improvement in their situation in more than two years.
He added that the union's counterproposal was intended to get the agency through summer events, such as the Live 8 concert. Bedard also noted that since negotiations have been slow, the extension would have allowed people to make summer plans without waiting for a more comprehensive agreement to be reached.
Explaining SEPTA's rejection of this proposal, Maloney said that "we really don't believe that [the union is] interested" in negotiating until early next year.
He added that the agency cannot legally and does not wish to lock out its workers -- prevent them from returning to work until a deal is reached. Maloney said that SEPTA is interested in negotiating a contract. Echoing a statement released earlier, he said, "We can do a deal today or ... a year from today."
Bedard offered a different perspective. He said that SEPTA has not taken the talks seriously enough and that the union is "not interested in negotiating by tantrum."
Bedard added that a contract acceptable to the union would likely have to include some increase in salary and benefits.
A key sticking point of the negotiations involve health insurance. SEPTA officials believe that the agency's employees should pay for some portion of their health insurance. Maloney said that to do otherwise is all but unheard of.
Bedard, however, countered that workers have already paid in the form of numerous concessions made during the negotiations of the last four contracts due to a promise of health coverage.
For now, he said, "there is no contract." He added that while he hopes SEPTA will abide by the terms of the expired contract, the agency is under no legal obligation to do so.
TWU Local 234 represents about 4,700 of SEPTA's approximately 9,000 employees.
When SEPTA workers last went on strike, in 1998, service was halted for three weeks.
