by KYW's Kim Glovas
Negotiators for Septa and its largest labor union were back at the bargaining table on Monday in hopes of ironing out a deal, even as the latest strike deadline came and went with no job action.
One thorny issued has reportedly been resolved: health care coverage. Transport Workers Union local 234 president Willie Brown said over the weekend that union members would not agree to pay more for health insurance.
But wage and pension issued remained up in the air as of Monday afternoon. Septa spokesman Richard Maloney said both sides were crunching numbers to try and arrive at an acceptable settlement.
Representatives of Septa and the TWU have been negotiating on the 11th floor of the Bellevue Hotel in center city Philadelphia, in Governor Rendell's suite of Philadelphia offices.
The union representing 4,700 transit workers had agreed not to go on strike while the World Series was being played in Philadelphia. But with the last home game scheduled for Monday evening, riders were wondering what would happen next.
Even so, Governor Rendell was strongarming both sides to remain at the bargaining table by threatening to withhold state funding on pet mass transit projects if either side balked.
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