SEPTA, workers union using Philly hotel to broker new labor deal: 'It's crunch time'

PHILADELPHIA - SEPTA and the union representing its workers are hunkering down in an Old City hotel to try to hammer out a new labor deal with a deadline looming a week away.

The two sides have tried to broker a new agreement since July with no luck. The Transportation Workers Union is SEPTA's largest and represents about 5,000 members.

Along with increases in wages and benefits, the union wants SEPTA to ensure the safety of the nation's sixth-largest transportation network.

SEPTA has been plagued by a spike in crime both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused the TWU to call for the National Guard to interfere. 

"The raping, the assaults, the robberies, the maliciousness that's going on on our Els, on our subways, on our buses, it's atrocious," TWU President Brian Pollitt said.

He called the two sides meeting at the Wyndham Hotel "lock and load" with the intentions of being their for the entire week to hopefully reach a fair agreement.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch echoed a similar sentiment about the meeting as the Halloween deadline looms, saying they "want to get this done."

"Our negotiators are going to be available around the clock, we are getting into crunch time, we want to get this done," Busch said.

SEPTA argues it's facing a devastating drop of $240M in operating funds in April when its COVID money will run dry, but they believe they have offered TWU a fair wage and benefits package that has tamped down fears of a strike.