Inquirer Editorial: All aboard transit accord

SEPTA officials plan to "impose" pay hikes of more than 8 and 11 percent on a pair of Regional Rail unions this weekend. For most Americans laboring under the dreary realities of the modern economy, such raises are an imposition devoutly to be wished. Remarkably, though, the unions say they would respond by going on strike, bringing the commuter lines to a halt.

Stories of public employee unions choking on terms that would make their private-sector counterparts salivate have become commonplace in Philadelphia. But despite the familiar ring of this standoff, the prospect of a mass transit strike shouldn't be treated as run-of-the-mill labor strife. Union leaders and officials must take pains to avoid stranding the lines' 126,000 weekday riders.

Fortunately, a federal mediator is expected to meet with negotiators today in an eleventh-hour effort to reach a deal before a mandated cooling-off period expires at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, clearing the way for a strike. Given the reasonable terms on offer and the presumably universal interest in avoiding the alternative, the two sides ought to be able to resolve their differences.

If they don't come to an agreement today, Gov. Corbett plans to ask President Obama to intervene by appointing an emergency board to investigate the dispute, which would put a strike on hold for up to eight months. The White House should be prepared to do so swiftly.

SEPTA officials told The Inquirer this week that they want to impose terms in the long-running stalemate to force a resolution now and avoid a strike in the winter, when the commuter lines are even more vital. Leaders of the two unions, representing train engineers and electricians, have said such unilateral action by SEPTA would warrant a walkout.

SEPTA's terms would give 210 electrical workers an 11.5 percent raise as of Sunday, bringing their average earnings to more than $61,000 a year. Two hundred twenty engineers would get raises of 5 percent and 3.5 percent as of next month, bringing their average annual earnings to more than $103,000. Partly due to the high cost of benefits and a shortage of qualified workers, the engineers generally work six-day weeks and earn substantial overtime.

SEPTA should address the apparent shortage of engineers so workloads can be reduced to reasonable levels. But union demands that the generous raises on the table be retroactive to the end of the previous contracts - to 2010 for engineers and 2009 for electrical workers - seem excessive. So does a demand to boost retirement benefits that are already well above average.

Although the union representing SEPTA's bus and subway drivers has also been without a contract since March, commuters don't have to worry about a standstill on those lines. Union chief Willie Brown - who with some accuracy labeled himself "the most hated man in Philadelphia" after he led a strike in 2009 - has wisely ruled out joining a walkout on the suburban lines.

The Regional Rail unions haven't walked off the job since 1983, when they stopped the trains for more than three months. Today, with mass transit ridership and prospects surging - and with major construction projects slowing I-95 traffic and PATCO trains - any strike would be an ill-timed imposition indeed.