SEPTA strike averted, tentative deal reached with union TWU Local 234
SEPTA and Transport Workers Union Local 234, the transit agency's largest union, have reached a tentative labor agreement that would avert a strike, members of both sides tell CBS News Philadelphia.
A news conference will be held at SEPTA headquarters at 12:30 p.m.
You can watch live in the player above or wherever CBS News Philadelphia is streaming.
The tentative agreement is a 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%.
More details will be released in the news conference. The union's 5,300-plus members would have to ratify the new contract by Friday, Dec. 6.
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 within the city of Philadelphia.
Negotiations continue between SEPTA and Smart Local 1594, which represents bus, trolley and train operators in the suburbs.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
