Negotiations in the spotlight: Philadelphia Transit

Negotiations have been big news this week in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia public transit, run by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) had been partially stopped due to a six-day worker walkout, which ended today. At issue was the new contract between the SEPTA transportation worker’s union (TWU), which represents 5100 workers, and SEPTA officials.

The labor strike began on Tuesday of last week, disrupting trolley and bus service in Philly.

“Workers had asked for a 4 percent annual pay raise and a $25-per-month increase in pension payments for each year of service. It previously sought a 6 percent annual wage hike. Transit officials had proposed no pay raises for the next five years, and then offered a 2 percent increase for the third and fourth years of the contract.”
Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7016920509#ixzz0WNuK1nO4

Resolution was reached over the weekend, with the intervention of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who brokered a tentative contract agreement.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

“One last-minute sticking point in the contract negotiations was that Septa wanted a provision to re-open the contract if U.S. health-reform legislation is passed, in case reform would change the economics of union members' health plans. But the union objected and that language was stripped out...” (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091109-711603.html )


The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting the following:

“The five-year contract also calls for a 2.5 percent raise in the second year, and a 3 percent raise in each of the final three years. It increases workers' contributions to the pension fund from the current 2 percent to 3 percent and increased the maximum pension to $30,000 a year from the current $27,000 a year.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/69522612.html?page=1&c=y