Leslie Cunnion of Glenside went to bed Saturday knowing the
SEPTA strike was over, but that wasn't enough.
She woke up extra early so she could listen to the news
again and make sure it was true. She volunteers at Liberty USO at the airport
serving military families, and it was going to be a hassle to get there without
the train.
Later Sunday morning, she found herself happily waiting at
the Market East Station for the airport train that did, indeed, arrive.
The train rolled in on time and she climbed aboard, along
with a reasonable collection of other passengers for a weekend.
Her relief was echoed throughout the station as SEPTA's 13
Regional Rail lines returned to normal after the one-day strike by rail
engineers and electrical workers, the first in 31 years. President Obama
intervened Saturday, signing an executive order to appoint an emergency board
to mediate the dispute between SEPTA and the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen plus the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers. The workers must stay on the job for 240 days while mediators try to
forge an agreement.
SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said all but one engineer
on the Doylestown line scheduled to work Sunday morning showed up. She said
that "can happen anytime and is not necessarily related to the
strike."
Arthur Davidson, general chairman of IBEW System Council No.
7, said the union was preparing for its presentation to the emergency board. A
date has not been set, but he said the meeting likely would be held in about
two weeks.
Davidson said he was hopeful the emergency board's
recommendation would lead to a favorable agreement. "We're very confident
that our position has merit," he said.
After the board makes a recommendation, SEPTA and the unions
will have 120 days to reach an agreement, Davidson said. If they don't, Obama
will appoint a second emergency board. After it makes a recommendation, the
parties will be required for another 120 days to try to agree. If they still
can't work out a contract, the unions will be free to strike again.
Commuters and businesses whose employees rely on SEPTA had
been bracing for a tough workweek. On a typical weekday, about 60,000 people
travel on the Regional Rail lines.
Susan Phillips, a senior vice president at Penn Medicine in
West Philadelphia, said preparations had been made for a longer strike, but she
was glad that was avoided. "We join our patients and staff who depend on
SEPTA for their transportation in a sigh of relief that a prolonged strike was
averted," she said.
Comcast, whose Center City office is above Suburban Station,
told its employees Friday to discuss alternative arrangements with their
managers, spokesman John Demming said. On Sunday, it was "pleased" to
tell them Monday would be a normal commuting day.
Demming said he takes SEPTA every day from Paoli. His backup
plan was a round-trip Amtrak ticket that cost $13. On Sunday, he was debating
whether to return it for a refund or hold on to it in case he misses his usual
train.
Typically, SEPTA provides 37,500 Regional Rail trips on a
Sunday, compared with 126,000 on a workday, Williams said. She said it would be
several days before SEPTA would know how many people took the train this
weekend.
At the Market East Station, Carmina Wilkerson was awaiting a
train Sunday to return home to Middletown, Del., after a weekend with family in
Philadelphia. She was worried when she heard about the strike.
"I thought it was the end of the world, because a lot
of people, they need transportation to get places," she said.
Wilkerson was pleased the trains were back on schedule.
"I was happy," she said. "I could get on a train and go
home."
Alex Cooper, a food-service manager who travels to
Philadelphia twice a week for business and pleasure, said he was on his way
home to Wilmington.
"It broke my heart," he said of the strike.
However, his brother works for SEPTA (he wasn't one of the strikers) and Cooper
sympathized with the engineers and electrical workers.
"Honestly, I understood what was going on," he
said. "They haven't had a contract for four years. There were some key
issues with benefits."
As a backup, Cooper was thinking of paying $40 for an Amtrak
ticket. "I wouldn't do that often at all," he said. His trip Sunday
on SEPTA cost $6.
If the strike had lasted, he said, he would have had to
drive:
"I take the train because I don't want to drive."
Source: Philly.com
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