SEPTA Strike Drags On

KYW Newsradio Team Coverage

The Transit Workers Union strike that has halted Septa's bus, subway and trolley service in the city drags on.  Despite optimism expressed by Governor Rendell early Friday, no face to face talks have been scheduled and the union says the latest Septa offer is as bad as the one offered prior to the strike.

KYW's Mike Dunn reports the latest word on the Septa strike shatters the optimism voiced early this morning by Governor Rendell.

A source close to negotiations tells KYW Newradio that the union does NOT see this latest revised offer from Septa as an improvement over the earlier one. It has not been formally rejected, and the source says the new offer is still being looked at. But, the source says, at first glance it does not seem any better than the last proposal.

This dampens the brighter outlook voiced early Friday by Governor Rendell, who along with U-S Congressman Bob Brady is brokering indirect talks between the union and Septa.

After management faxed the revised offer to the union, Rendell, who is acting as the middleman between the workers union and Septa, was optimistic that there would be an agreement soon:

"Hopefully, we'll have an agreement, during the day today which will allow the trains and the buses to be running by tonight ."

Septa officials meantime caution that if there is a settlement Friday, it would be "very difficult" to offer anything more than sporadic service for the afternoon rush hour. The level of service, they said, would depend on how many workers returned to work for that shift. The question of the viability of an afternoon rush hour may be moot if, in fact, the union, rejects the latest offer outright.

Meantime, Mayor Michael Nutter indicated that his administration is looking into the possibility of filing an injunction to force the union back to work. But he said no final decision on going to court has yet been made:

"The City Solicitor, the Law Department, all of our public safety areas and public health areas, have been monitoring the impact of the strike from not just an inconvenience standpoint, but a true impact on people trying to get to their doctor or their hospital."

City solicitor Shelley Smith says judges have only issued strike injunctions when there is a "clear and present danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public." She indicated that while the Administration is closely monitoring this, they have no evidence yet that that level of danger has been reached, and any immediate request for an injunction is unlikely.

KYW's Hadas Kuznits reports union members reviewing the latest Septa proposal say the offers are deteriorating, as there is no longer a signing bonus or a first year raise.

Septa confirms that but says the signing bonus money brought in by the Governor last week has been shifted to a wage package increase for the second year. 

It’s up to the union now to decide what they want to do about the latest proposal.

See more SEPTA strike stories

KYW's Mike DeNardo reports that commuters are hoping the strike doesn't last much longer.

All week, it's been taking John Bressler of Northeast Philadelphia a lot longer to get to work:

"You would normally take the bus and the El, and you can't take either now."

"That's correct."

DeNardo: "So what are you doing?"

"Well, taking the R3 line. But my family has to get up and take me to the train because we only have one car."

Bressler says he's prepared himself for the long haul:

"A settlement would be nice. I'm ready for the long run. I thought this would be four or five more weeks because of the way the union and management were not getting along."

Hassled, tired commuters are hoping the union and management can play nice sooner
rather than later.

KYW's Lynne Adkins reports Septa rail commuters in Glenside are especially happy to see the end of this work week, because of the hassles caused by the on-going transit strike.

The commuters say it's been an adventure.  Trains have been late and packed.  Earl hasn't minded the trip to work, even with the additional riders.

“Getting home has been a little problem sometimes because the train comes up kind of late.  If you've got people waiting for you down here, you have to call them up on the cell phone and say don't leave the house just yet, because you don't want them sitting down here in the dark.”

Travelers say waiting in long lines to board crowded trains makes the trip home longer and more uncomfortable.