More than 350,000 daily passengers are counting on SEPTA and
its workers to reach a labor pact without a strike. But as important as
uninterrupted service is to the city and its economy, there's a good deal more
riding on an agreement between the transit agency and its 5,500 bus drivers,
subway and trolley operators, and mechanics.
With a recent infusion of $400 million a year in state
funding championed by Gov. Corbett, and with improved service and finances
under general manager Joseph M. Casey, SEPTA also has a newly burnished
reputation that it must keep on track. That's vital not only to sustaining
riders' loyalty, but also to continued support from Harrisburg, signaling to
civic, corporate, and tourism interests that the region's transit network is a reliable
asset.
So the cautiously hopeful signs that an agreement might be
reached without a walkout are as welcome as an on-time bus on a chilly spring
morning. A mid-March contract extension agreed to by Transport Workers Union
Local 234 president Willie Brown, along with SEPTA managers' decision to relent
on a contentious two-tiered pension proposal, showed reasonable give-and-take
on both sides of the table.
A potential strike deadline passed Sunday, and while Brown
was talking tough this week, he has also wisely noted that a strike would hurt
his members' families even as it inconveniences patrons. Nor did the veteran
union leader indicate that he was readying a strike vote. Meanwhile, SEPTA
officials have offered the union a modest raise and a plan for health-care
cost-sharing that would be seen as workable in the private sector.
It's clear that a deal precluding picket lines is within
reach, and that should be the goal. Brown and Casey should know better than
anyone that such an outcome would prove SEPTA is poised to keep moving forward.
Source: Philly.com
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