SEPTA seeks White House help in labor dispute

SEPTA will ask the Obama administration to appoint an emergency board to try to settle its long-running labor dispute with Regional Rail engineers and electricians, spokeswoman Jerri Williams said Thursday.

Without such intervention, the two unions could strike or SEPTA could lock them out starting June 14, the National Mediation Board said in a letter sent to the parties on Wednesday.

The unions last week agreed to accept binding arbitration to settle the dispute, but SEPTA declined.

If a presidential emergency board is created, that would delay a strike or lock-out for 240 days.

- Paul Nussbaum