Still no settlement between SEPTA, Transport Workers Union Local 234

With no contract proposals in more than a week and no new talks scheduled, a settlement between SEPTA and its largest union does not appear imminent.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s a stalemate,” said Jamie Horowitz, spokesman for Transport Workers Union Local 234, which represents about 4,700 operators and mechanics in the city transit division. “Since the proposals were exchanged there’s been a lot of number crunching going on.”

Local 234 workers have been without a contract since March 15 and while there is a very good chance a strike authorization vote will come in the next two weeks, it appears unlikely union workers will walk off the job in the next few months.

“Whenever you have the potential of there being a work stoppage it is obviously concerning for our riders,” said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch. “We want to avoid that if all possible. At this point there is no indication that anything is imminent but the law of averages says the longer you go, the more potential there is for something to happen.”

In the first week of April, pacts will also expire for Suburban Transit Division bus and trolley operators, maintenance and clerical employees who work in the Victory and Frontier districts.

The Victory District (formerly Red Arrow) covers the Norristown High Speed Line and bus and trolley routes in Delaware County. The Frontier District includes Bucks and Montgomery counties.

In a March 14 proposal, SEPTA offered a five-year contract with lump sum payments of $500, but no raises, in the first and second year, followed by bumps of 1 percent, 2 percent and 3 percent in years three, four and five.

It eliminated pensions for new hires — placing them instead into tax-deferred compensation plans — and required workers to up their share of health care premiums from 1 to 2.5 percent over the life of the agreement.

A post on the Local 234 website characterized the salary and benefit elements of the proposal as “concessions that should make your BLOOD BOIL!!”

“I would say the two most important issues at this point are the health care and pension,” Horowitz said. “These are very hardworking people who took these jobs because they offered certain benefits, including retirement, which is something we want to maintain for the younger workers as well.”

Busch said the base salary for a TWU bus or trolley operator is $33,887 and top of scale is $55,620. With overtime, the average operator at top of scale makes $64,847.

“People tend to stay in these jobs for a long time,” Busch said, adding that it takes four years to get to top of scale. “These are good jobs with good benefits.”

The March 14 proposal would have covered city and suburban workers and SEPTA historically extends the same wage increases and health care contribution percentages to its non-union employees.

Because of uncertainties with future health care costs under the Affordable Care Act and who will absorb them, Horowitz said the union is willing to sign off on a two-year contract under same terms as the last agreement or submit to binding arbitration. He said SEPTA negotiators were interested in neither.

“We are always willing to discuss any and all of the union’s proposals at the bargaining table,” Busch said.

Union officials claim SEPTA is in much better financial shape than during the 2009 negotiations, which, after a six-day strike by City Transit Division workers, produced a five-year contract that raised salaries by 11.5 percent, required workers to up their contributions to the pension fund from 1.5 to 3 percent, and did not raise health care premiums. The contract also included a $1,250 signing bonus.

“Ridership at SEPTA is way up and finances are far better today,” Horowitz said. “We are not asking for the moon and the stars.”

Busch noted that passenger fares cover just 40 percent of SEPTA’s operating budget. “Overall, 70 percent of the expenses in the operating budget pay for labor and fringe benefits,” he said.

A strike by TWU workers would not impact regional trains, whose engineers are represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. That group has been working without a contract since 2010 and presently engaged in federal mediation.

Source: Times Herald