SEPTA reaches tentative agreement on new contract with its largest union
PHILADELPHIA - A tentative agreement has been reached in ongoing negotiations between SEPTA and its largest union on a new contract.
Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 234 President tells FOX 29 the 1-year contract includes a 5% raise for union employees and a pension increase.
By Wednesday afternoon, SEPTA also reached a tentative agreement with a second union, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation (SMART) Workers Local 1594 which contains similar terms as the TWU deal.
The Local 234 board has approved the contract and now its members must vote to ratify the tentative agreement on Dec. 6.
Local 234 members have been working without a contract since both sides agreed to continue negotiations after a deadline was reached earlier this month.
It's SEPTA's largest union, with 5,000 members representing operators of city buses, trolleys, the Market-Frankford Line and Broad Street Line.
"I guess my strategy worked because at the end of the day, we got a contract and, my members are happy," said Brian Pollitt, President of TWU Local 234.
"I catch the bus every day, I come downtown that’s my little exercise to get out," said Annette Taylor of West Philadelphia. "I’m glad they came to an agreement because my grandkids catch the bus to school too."
In a statement, SEPTA said it exhausted federal COVID-relief funds that covered the cost of everyday expenses to keep the transit system running smoothly.
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This, SEPTA said, created an "unprecedented fiscal cliff" that materialized in a nearly quarter billion dollar annual budget deficit this year and beyond. According to SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch, the deficit has been lowered to $153 million for the current fiscal year after SEPTA received one-time money from the state worth approximately $53 million and after a combination of cost cutting and new revenues from parking and fare increase.
SEPTA is proposing steep fare increases in December and January, and service cuts to be announced early next year. All of this is expected to generate $45 million increase in revenue.
"With this uncertainty looming, it was critical to get a contract in place that keeps service running, especially as ridership continues to grow," said Scott Sauer, SEPTA’s Chief Operating Officer. "We have to demonstrate to our customers that we're going to run service, whether it's 20% less next year. We still have to run service, and we need the members to do that. If they had walked out, and struck, you know, who knows for how long, but we wanted to do a deal that was fair, kept them working, keep service running, and we had to make a tough decision," said Sauer.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Governor Josh Shapiro was asked about new state funding for SEPTA. Governor Shapiro called out the Republican led State Senate for not acting on his mass transit proposal providing recurring funding year after year.
"There’s no substitution for the fact the legislature hasn’t gotten a bill to my desk. I’ve been calling for this for a year," said Governor Shapiro. "So now we find ourselves in a situation that is somewhat unique to SEPTA right now where they are really, really struggling and I want to make clear I will not let SEPTA fail. SEPTA is critically important, not just to Southeastern PA but all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I’ll have more to say on some actions my administration may take, we’re working hard to consider what steps we can take to shore up SEPTA, and I’ll have some more to say on that in the coming weeks."
Sauer believes SEPTA is in the best possible shape to continue the fight for funding to preserve the critical services it provides
"We're going to continue working in tandem in hopes that we could get transit funding. So we won't be back at this place next year," said Pollitt.