SEPTA, union agree; strike is over

WHEW!

Just when commuters around the region were gearing up for the second week of the six-day transit strike, the Transport Workers Union Local 234 signed a deal that put its workers back on the job.

Gov. Rendell said early this morning at a hastily called news conference at the Bellevue, at Broad and Walnut streets, that the subways, buses and trolleys would be running in time for the "a.m. rush hour."

Union representatives arrived at the Bellevue shortly after midnight to sign the deal, which Rendell said was very similar to the "handshake agreement" that was reached late Friday night.

That tentative agreement fell through on Saturday after the union raised objections regarding two sticking points.

But, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady insisted, the two sides kept talking through the weekend.

"Negotiations never broke down," said Brady, a member of the carpenters union who has been working behind the scenes to keep all parties talking since before the strike began.

"People get frustrated . . . From time to time, people get a little frazzled but you stay there and keep them all talking. If you don't talk. Nothing will get done."

The two sticking points that emerged over the weekend included access by the union to audit pension fund records and the impact of national health-care reform on SEPTA's costs.

Rendell said the health-care issue had been resolved. The audit issue was not addressed this morning. A three-year dental plan, which had not been publicly mentioned as an issue, was added to this morning's deal.

What had appeared to be an acrimonious negotiation turned into a series of back-patting this morning at the Bellevue.

"Even when things broke down, [Local 234 President] Willie Brown did his job," Rendell said. "It's the nature of the collective bargaining process. "It's an inherently adversarial process. And [Brown] was a strong adversary."

Brown, who said a ratification vote would be held in about 10 days, commended Brady. Brady "came in and was plugging away at it and we finally got together and got an agreement," he said.

As recently as yesterday afternoon, it appeared that neither side was likely to budge any time soon."Our position right now is for the union to sign the contract, period," SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said. "We're through negotiating."

Local 234 spokesman Bob Wolper said yesterday that the union had balked because SEPTA had wanted to add a clause to reopen the contract for talks with members about out-of-pocket costs should any health-care reform increase costs to the transit agency.

Regarding the audit, he said, SEPTA has told the union that an independent firm audits the fund and that the union could hire an auditor to check that report.

"That is not what a forensic audit is," he said, noting that the union wants to look at the original books and have an independent firm perform its own audit.

"We want to get the information, not deal with the information SEPTA decides to give to us," Wolper said.

The pension emerged as the major issue in negotiations, with the union claiming that its pension is funded at only 52 percent, compared to 72 percent funding for the management pension.

On Saturday, after the union raised its objections, a "frustrated" Rendell said that he would no longer be party to the talks.

"I am out - I have a state to run," he said.

"In my 32 years in government, I have never been more disappointed with a negotiation than I am right now tonight."

He also gave an ultimatum: If the standing SEPTA contract is not put before the union's membership for a vote by midnight tonight, he is taking $7 million in state money with him.

"It is our belief that members would vote overwhelmingly to take this contract," he said.

The tentative agreement reached Friday night was for a five-year contract that called for no raise in the first year but a $1,250 signing bonus, a 2.5 percent raise in year two and a 3 percent raise in each of the remaining three years.

The workers, who pay 1 percent of base salary for health care, would not have had to increase health-care contributions.

The deal also increased workers' contributions to the pension fund from 2 percent to 3.5 percent and raised the maximum pension to $30,000 a year from $27,000.

Local 234 represents about 5,500 bus drivers, trolley and subway operators and mechanics making an average of $52,000 a year.

Staff writer Dan Geringer contributed to this report.