SEPTA’s labor contract with its largest union expires
at midnight on October 31st — Halloween — and if Transport Workers Union (TWU)
Local 234 doesn’t get a new deal by then, November 1st will look a lot scarier
to commuters than anything they might have seen the night before.
“When we talk about 12:01 [A.M.], 11/1, we will be on
strike if we don’t get a contract," says Willie
Brown, president of TWU Local 234, which represents the 5,185 operators and
maintenance crews that keep SEPTA’s buses, trolleys and subways moving.
As of Monday, union and management officials plan to
meet daily to negotiate a deal.
Brown swears that the transit union will walk off—and
stay off—the job until they have a deal in place. “Once we’re on strike, we’re
on strike,” says Brown. “There will be no going out on strike and then coming
back to work.”
Brown says his union won’t accept another limited
extension that fails to tackle the big issues left unaddressed in 2014: Pension
reform, health care plans, and a number of non-economic issues.
Go to PlanPhilly.com
for more details on the sticking points in negotiations.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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