SEPTA strike averted, tentative deals reached with workers' unions in Philadelphia, suburbs
SEPTA and two unions representing its workers have reached a tentative labor agreement that, if ratified, would avert a strike in Philadelphia and its suburbs.
The transit agency and Transport Workers Union Local 234 and Smart Local 1594 agreed to a tentative one-year contract with a wage increase "and some significant improvements in safety," a spokesperson for the union said in an email.
A source added the new deal increases wages and pensions by 5%.
SEPTA and TWU Local 234 first agreed to the deal Wednesday morning. Hours later, SEPTA and Smart Local 1594 agreed to the same agreement.
More details were released in a news conference hosted by SEPTA and union leaders.
"This tentative agreement is both fair to our hard-working frontline employees and fiscally responsible to our customers and taxpayers that fund the authority," SEPTA's interim general manager Scott Sauer said.
"Although these negotiations were tedious and it was a rumble, we made it happen," said Brian Pollitt, head of the Transport Workers Union Local 234. "The citizens of the region, I didn't want them to have to go through a stoppage and I tried and tried and tried. And I said in the news, at any event we had to draw a line in the sand, I would definitely call it. But I tried to continue talking. ....and I guess our strategy worked, because we got a contract."
"I want to take a moment to thank the leadership of TWU Local 234 and their President, Brian Pollitt," said Anthony Petty, chairperson and SMART-TD alternative vice president of the bus department, in a statement. "We couldn't have reached this agreement without their tireless effort and solidarity. Together, we fought for the safety and dignity of our members, and today we're seeing the results of that work."
Among the safety improvements is a bulletproof enclosure for bus drivers, Pollitt said at the news conference. A pilot program is in the works to outfit a bus with the enclosure and check that its engineering is sound, and then buses with the added safety feature could hit the streets by June, he added.
The union's 5,300-plus members would have to ratify the new contract by Friday, Dec. 6.
"My members are happy," Pollitt added.
SEPTA is still in a dire financial situation, facing a fiscal cliff with the expiration of federal aid that was supplied to make up for a decline in ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic. SEPTA has proposed major service cuts and fare increases if the Pennsylvania state government cannot give an annual increase in its appropriation.
Lawmakers in Harrisburg are off for the rest of the year - their last legislative session was earlier this month - and they did not pass Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed plan that would generate an additional $282 million per year for all transit systems, including $161 million for SEPTA. Philadelphia City Council has called on Shapiro and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to "flex" federal highway dollars toward the transit agency, but Shapiro and the commission's views on that option are not clear.
The union's national leadership released a statement on the deal that pointed out the existing need for funding.
"Now, the fight shifts to winning dedicated funding for transit in Pennsylvania, and we intend to work with Gov. Josh Shapiro to make it happen. When the TWU works with our local affiliates to fight back against the bosses who seek to harm us – we win," TWU International President John Samuelsen said.
With the deal being just one year, both sides will be back at the bargaining table again next year, something Sauer is hopeful SEPTA won't have to do often.
"There's still a deficit and it's still about $153 million," Sauer said Wednesday. "There's a structural deficit that has to be plugged. ... This is not a healthy way for us to do business, we have to be able to come to long-term agreements with our unions for the good of the membership, for the good of the service, for the good of our customers. Our customers don't want to go through this cycle every single year of 'will we go on strike, will we not go on strike, will we be funded, will we not be funded.'"
Members of TWU 234 have been working without a contract since Nov. 8. Wednesday's tentative agreement followed two weeks of negotiations as the threat of a strike loomed over the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on SEPTA daily.
But from the beginning, the agency and the union vowed to do everything they could to avoid a strike, and it seems that promise was kept.
TWU workers operate and work with all SEPTA buses, trains and trolleys in Philadelphia. Smart Local 1594 workers operate and work SEPTA's buses, trolleys and trains in the suburbs.
The tentative agreement averts a worst-case scenario of three city unions striking at once. Pollitt said he met with leaders of Smart Local 1594 and AFSCME District Council 33, which represents Philadelphia workers, including sanitation employees, at a diner on Tuesday, and they discussed "a day to pull the plug."
"Not having a strike impacting SEPTA riders in Philadelphia is a win-win for our city and the five-county greater Philadelphia region as well," Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement. "Philadelphia City Council has been advocating since the start of negotiations for SEPTA to reach a fair contract for the workers of TWU 234 and that is what we see today."
Johnson added he wants the state legislature to call a session to provide SEPTA with "the critical funding it needs moving forward."
"The citizens of Philadelphia are deeply dependent on the SEPTA system daily and we need funding from Harrisburg to allow SEPTA to move forward in the right way," Johnson's statement continued.