SEPTA strike ends, service resumes

Six days after members of SEPTA’s largest union walked out of their jobs, the transit strike has come to an end.

Leaders of the Transport Workers Union Local 234 met with SEPTA management Sunday and came to an agreement over the union workers’ contract, which had expired in March.

The end of the strike was announced at a press conference early Monday.

SEPTA announced that service on the city’s buses, trolleys and subways would resume at 4 a.m. Monday and would be fully operational by the end of the day.

Union members will vote on the new contract Monday.

It is unclear what brought about the turnaround in talks. Earlier in the day, the outlook for the strike remained bleak.

SEPTA and TWU leaders nearly reached an agreement Friday, but talks fell apart Saturday as disagreements about workers’ pension fund continued to be a sticking point.

Union leadership asked for a forensic audit of the pension fund, which SEPTA management would not agree to.

However, the two parties met late Sunday night in Gov. Edward Rendell’s office and worked out discrepancies in the contract.

The strike, which started early Tuesday morning, wreaked havoc on city transportation all week, causing traffic jams and overcrowding regional rail trains as commuters dealt with delays.

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