Strike likely, SEPTA union leader says, but not soon

SEPTA transit workers are likely to strike soon, their union president said Monday, but it won't be this week, and no strike date has been set as labor talks continue.

Willie Brown, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, said workers and SEPTA management were as far apart "as California and Pennsylvania." He said he would reassess the strike prospect after this week.

The main sticking point, he said, is the union's request for changes to its pension plan.

Unlike five years ago, when the TWU went on strike in the middle of a night without notice, riders this time will get 24-hour notice of an impending strike, Brown said.

Any strike will last "as long as it takes," he said, noting that the union stayed out 40 days in 1998.

The last TWU strike, in November 2009, lasted six days.

Talks between the sides, which have been going on intermittently for nearly a year, will resume Tuesday.

"If SEPTA comes to the table with a serious offer, we can make this thing happen," Brown said. But he said recent talks had moved the sides farther apart.

Local 234 is the largest of SEPTA's 17 unions, representing about 5,000 drivers, operators, mechanics, cashiers, and others. They have been working without a contract since five-year pacts expired in March and April.

SEPTA buses, subways, and trolleys carry about a million riders daily, and employers and workers throughout the region are starting to make contingency plans for a possible halt in service.

Regional Rail trains would continue to operate if there is a transit strike, as their crews are covered by separate contracts; locomotive engineers reached a new agreement with SEPTA this month.

"We would hope that our riders would get at least 48 hours' notice so they can make alternative plans," SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said.

Typically, any agreement reached by Local 234 sets the pattern for SEPTA's 16 other contracts.

The TWU's surprise predawn walkout in 2009 left thousands of commuters in the lurch, drawing fire from Mayor Nutter and then-Gov. Ed Rendell.

The union had threatened to strike as the World Series was being played in Philadelphia, but it did not actually go out until 3 a.m. Nov. 3, after the Series left town.

Brown said at the time, "I understand I'm the most hated man in Philadelphia right now. I have no problem with that."

The base salary for new SEPTA bus drivers is $33,887, and drivers with four or more years of experience make $55,620 a year. Including overtime pay, the typical TWU member is paid $64,847 a year, Williams said.

Brown said workers want to receive pension payouts on a formula comparable with the plan for managers, which he said gives retired managers three times more than union workers receive if they contribute the same amount to the fund.

SEPTA contends that managers' pensions are higher because their salaries are higher.

SEPTA officials said union workers made no contributions to their pension fund until the late 1990s. Since then, contributions have been negotiated to cover increases in pension benefits. Union workers now contribute 3.5 percent of their pre-overtime pay to the pension fund.

"Given the difference in annual salary, it stands to reason that the pension benefits would be drastically different," SEPTA said in a statement in August. "Also, in these examples, it is significant to note that TWU Local 234 members receive a pension equal to 60 percent of their preretirement compensation, while management employees receive only 54 percent."