Stephen Bruno, vice president of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Read said in a Philadelphia Inquirer article
that his union would "probably" strike, a move that could leave the
Regional Rail shuttered.
It comes in response to SEPTA's unilateral move of proposing
to issue raises for electrical workers and engineers (rather than negotiating
the raise amounts). Meanwhile, SEPTA seems content to risk a strike now, rather
than in winter when ridership is up. Here's more:
"SEPTA's goal
apparently is to risk a strike now, when ridership is lower, than next winter,
when more commuters and students rely on the system. Regional Rail trains carry
about 126,000 riders a day. "We need to get an agreement now," SEPTA
general manager Joseph Casey said Monday. "Seven thousand other SEPTA
employees have already accepted this wage package, but these 400 are holding
out."
Meanwhile, the Transit Workers Union has been working
without a contract since March, and SEPTA issued a contingency plan in case
that union decides to strike. No strike from that union seems imminent.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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