SEPTA Transit Police strike is over, officers returning to regular shifts Saturday afternoon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- SEPTA Transit Police officers are going back to work and ending their strike after reaching a tentative agreement, SEPTA and the union said Saturday.
SEPTA confirmed the agreement in a statement, as did a union source, on Saturday.
The agreement ends the strike and officers will head back to work their regular shifts starting on Saturday afternoon.
Officers in the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 went on strike Wednesday night after they could not come to terms with SEPTA over the length of the next contract with police officers.
About two-thirds of the union's 170 members voted against SEPTA's offer of a 43-month contract. The union was in favor of a three-year contract.
The sides were in agreement about pay increases for the officers, but the union wanted them spread out over the shorter three-year period instead of the longer 43 months. That means officers will see the pay increases more quickly.
Since Wednesday night, supervisory transit police as well as Philadelphia police and officers from neighboring towns have been filling in as security at SEPTA stations and aboard subway trains.
The union previously said SEPTA Transit Police was staffed at 25% below its budgeted headcount due to the inability to retain staff and recruit new officers. Officers sought higher-paying jobs with Amtrak or Temple University, for example, officials have said.
"This tentative agreement is fair to our hard-working police officers and financially responsible for SEPTA," SEPTA Board Chairman Pasquale T. Deon Sr. said in a statement. "We greatly appreciate the efforts of our police supervisors to cover patrols and keep the system safe these last few days, as well as the assistance we received from our law enforcement partners."
Both sides thanked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for contacting them and bringing the sides together.
"The Governor's engagement enabled us to come to a deal that protects public safety on SEPTA and takes care of hard-working union members who put their lives on the line every day," SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie Richards said in a statement.
