SEPTA and its largest union have a contract agreement, averting a public transit strike - The Philadelphia Inquirer

elehrouh.blogspot.com

SEPTA and its largest union have reached tentative agreement on a new contract, averting a damaging strike that would have shut down Philadelphia’s public transit system as it struggles to recover from a steep drop in ridership driven by the pandemic.

For the region, the deal immediately removes the headache of an extra-congested Monday trip to work and a disruption of Philadelphia public schools, where 60,000 students and about 20,000 teachers and staff rely on transit.

Members of Transport Workers Local 234 will get 3% annual raises in each of the two years of the contract, as well as a one-time pandemic hazard bonus of one dollar for each hour worked between March 15, 2020, and March 15 this year, to a maximum of $2,200. They also won paid parental leave under the deal.

“I am very pleased that we were able to come to terms without a strike,” said TWU Local 234 President Willie Brown. “Our members are essential workers who move Philadelphia and who have risked their lives putting their own families at risk during this pandemic.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The union and the transit authority announced the agreement in separate statements about 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The contract is “fair to our employees and fiscally responsible for SEPTA,” said board chairman Pasquale T. Deon Sr. said in a statement.

Next, the contract needs ratification from the union membership and formal approval by SEPTA’s board. A TWU ratification vote is scheduled Nov. 5. The regional transit agency board will vote Nov. 18, Deon said.

An agreement was reached late Thursday night after several days of intensive bargaining sessions at an Old City hotel, interspersed with more informal talks and exchanges of proposed language. The existing pact was set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 1.

ADVERTISEMENT

TWU got much of what it wanted but not all.

The union had sought a four-year contract with wage increases and the retroactive pandemic hazard pay. It did not obtain increased survivor benefits for families of the 11 SEPTA frontline workers who died of COVID-19, which became an emotional rallying point for TWU members ahead of a strike authorization vote last Sunday.

Transit authority negotiators offered a two-year contract with a wage increase and pandemic payment or a four-year deal tying pay increases to SEPTA’s ability to afford them. With ridership yet to rebound fully from its pandemic nadir and an unclear picture of where commuting and transit-use patterns are headed, the agency said, it couldn’t afford to guarantee pay hikes so far into the future.

“This was a difficult time to negotiate a contract,” Brown said. “SEPTA is facing unprecedented challenges. ... And, without question, the solidarity of our members was the key factor. The talks became far more productive after last Sunday’s unanimous strike vote.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Union members also has sought better security on the SEPTA system, given high-profile crimes and abuse and assaults against members, some from passengers frustrated at federal mask requirements on transit.

The proposed contract also includes, for the first time, two weeks of parental leave at the birth or adoption of a child, TWU said. Maternity leave benefits during pregnancy or following a birth — different from the sick leave union workers must use now —also are part of the tentative agreement, union officials said.

On the system overall, ridership is at 47% of pre-pandemic levels, and SEPTA says it continues to lose $1 million a day. It has received $1.5 billion in operating funds from three federal pandemic relief payments — likely enough, officials say, to last through 2023. Future state funding is uncertain; the legislature has not acted to replace a transit funding formula that is expiring. SEPTA has no authority to levy taxes within its five-county territory, unlike many peer transit agencies in the United States.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Adblock test (Why?)

"strike" - Google News
October 29, 2021 at 07:33PM
https://ift.tt/3GserXb

SEPTA and its largest union have a contract agreement, averting a public transit strike - The Philadelphia Inquirer
"strike" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WheuPk
https://ift.tt/2VWImBB

Bagikan Berita Ini