AFTER A late-night ratification vote, SEPTA's largest
union finalized a new labor contract yesterday, ending the threat of a strike
that would have shuttered the city's subways, buses and trolleys.
The nearly 5,000 train operators and bus and trolley
drivers represented by Transportation Workers Union Local 234 approved a
two-year agreement with the transit authority last night, union officials said.
The new contract provides wage increases of 5 percent
over two years, broken into a 2 percent increase on Dec. 14 and an additional 3
percent bump in December 2015.
SEPTA and the union were locked in a bitter dispute after
the previous agreement lapsed, with TWU members working since the spring
without a contract.
During the spat, union leader Willie Brown threatened to
call a strike more than once.
Tensions reached a boiling point on Halloween, when both
sides sat at the bargaining table for several hours at the Wyndham Philadelphia
Historic District hotel in Old City. Bolstered by support from U.S. Rep. Robert
Brady (D-Phila.) and other local politicians, a deal was reached about 11 p.m.
"We got it done; I'm satisfied." Brown said in
announcing the agreement.
Two big sticking points, pensions and the grievance
procedure, still need to be hashed out, according to Brown.
Both sides reached a temporary agreement with the former:
a onetime pension bonus of $175 for each year of service for members who retire
in the next two years.
Retiring union workers will also receive a boost in the
dental benefits offered to their eligible family members, bringing the total to
$2,150 a year for each person covered in the plan.
Brown said his members will look to reach a more
permanent solution long before 2016, when this new contract lapses.
"This is an ongoing battle for fairness," he
said Thursday.
"The contract we are voting on now is a very good
interim agreement that allows our members to make gains and does not
inconvenience the public.
"We're not done yet."
Source: Philly.com
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