SEPTA union ratifies contract, avoids strike

AFTER A late-night ratification vote, SEPTA's largest union finalized a new labor contract yesterday, ending the threat of a strike that would have shuttered the city's subways, buses and trolleys.

The nearly 5,000 train operators and bus and trolley drivers represented by Transportation Workers Union Local 234 approved a two-year agreement with the transit authority last night, union officials said.

The new contract provides wage increases of 5 percent over two years, broken into a 2 percent increase on Dec. 14 and an additional 3 percent bump in December 2015.

SEPTA and the union were locked in a bitter dispute after the previous agreement lapsed, with TWU members working since the spring without a contract.

During the spat, union leader Willie Brown threatened to call a strike more than once.

Tensions reached a boiling point on Halloween, when both sides sat at the bargaining table for several hours at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District hotel in Old City. Bolstered by support from U.S. Rep. Robert Brady (D-Phila.) and other local politicians, a deal was reached about 11 p.m.

"We got it done; I'm satisfied." Brown said in announcing the agreement.

Two big sticking points, pensions and the grievance procedure, still need to be hashed out, according to Brown.

Both sides reached a temporary agreement with the former: a onetime pension bonus of $175 for each year of service for members who retire in the next two years.

Retiring union workers will also receive a boost in the dental benefits offered to their eligible family members, bringing the total to $2,150 a year for each person covered in the plan.

Brown said his members will look to reach a more permanent solution long before 2016, when this new contract lapses.

"This is an ongoing battle for fairness," he said Thursday.

"The contract we are voting on now is a very good interim agreement that allows our members to make gains and does not inconvenience the public.

"We're not done yet."