Just
after midnight, SEPTA’s transit services across Philadelphia came to a sudden
halt as 4,700 members of the authority’s largest union launched a strike that
some fear might last through Election Day.
"We
are not able to come to an agreement with SEPTA so as 12:01, we are officially
on strike," Willie Brown, president of Transport Workers
Union Local 234 told a press gaggle at midnight.
The
labor agreement between TWU and SEPTA expired Tuesday at midnight, before the
two sides could come together on a new contract. TWU authorized a strike two
weeks ago.
Negotiators
met over the weekend and reconvened again at 9:30 a.m. Monday morning. But as
the sands in the hourglass slipped away, it became apparent that an accord
wasn’t in the offing.
"We're
pretty far apart," said Brown. "We're gonna stay here, go upstairs
and keep exchanging demands, see if we can get it done tonight but I'm not
optimistic we can."
Go
to PlanPhilly.com for
more details on the issues that led to the strike.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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