Emerson Max, Brian Selavka, Kyle Hawbaker

Audio/Visual Newsgathering: Final Project AP Article

4,738 Unionized SEPTA employees stopped working after failed negotiations with
SEPTA on November 1st, and this is far from the first time such a strike has taken place.
The latest strike occurred because an agreement could not be reached between the Southeastern
Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the Transportation Workers Union Local 234,
overseen by President Willie Brown, about wages, pensions, and working conditions.
Andrew Busch, a Public Information Manager for SEPTA, said that, For this particular
round of contract negotiations, pension was one of the main primary issues that we wanted to,
and did, reach an agreement on.
Philadelphia regulates against private transit while also subsidizing SEPTA, and so the
workers will go on strike every so often to ask for more benefits.
In a news release, TWU Local 234 said that It appears that SEPTAs plan all along was to avoid
real bargaining while relying on legal tricks. We are committed to bargaining a new agreement as
soon as possible. That will happen at the bargaining table not by rushing into court in a
pointless attempt to restrict workers rights.
SEPTA transportation has an average of 400,000 daily riders, 60,000 of which are
schoolchildren, all of which were affected by this strike. When the strike began, many were
unsure how long it would last; one SEPTA strike in 1998 lasted for 40 days. Since 1977, there
have been 10 SEPTA strikes, which makes SEPTA Americas most strike-prone transit agency,
according to Forbes.

Philadelphia is a city that heavily relies on public transportation with an approximate

900,000 SEPTA trips being completed daily. Traffic was also heavily backed up for the first
couple days due to more people being on the roads who normally would have taken SEPTA, and
some picketers even took to the Regional Rail tracks to attempt to halt their service as well,
BillyPenn says.
Tyler Oliveti, a resident of Philadelphia who works at Lincoln Financial Field, told us
that The SEPTA strike was pretty hard, I wasnt able to take the Broad Street Line, which made
it very difficult for me to get to work.
The main concern of the striking employees was their pensions. SEPTA management
employees have no cap on their pensions, while workers are capped, and this discrepancy caused
employees to walk off the job on November 1st at midnight, BillyPenn said.
The average SEPTA operator makes over $65,000 including overtime work, but this does not
include health and pension benefits; workers have a built in annual pay-hike though, according to
Forbes. As they reported, 78 percent of its $1.2 billion in operating expenses goes towards
salaries, wages, and benefits, including 27 percent for healthcare. This has stripped money from
actual services and repairs, helping explain why SEPTAs services have been reduced, and its
ridership is down despite growth in city population.
The strike is the first one since 2014, this one lasted six days and consisted of the Broad
Street Line, the Market-Frankford Line, buses, and trolleys all halted operations for the duration
of the strike, BillyPenn says.
Pat Deon, the SEPTA board chair, apologized for the problems the strike caused, saying
this has been a long few days here, and that transportation fares will increase to help fund the

deal that was worked out with SEPTA employees, although the fare increases had already been
planned, according to BillyPenn.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney released a statement Monday, November 7th, saying he is
thankful that the Transport Workers Union and SEPTA have reached a settlement, and he is
very grateful to residents and commuters for their patience over the last six days, According to
Billy Penn.
The main difference between this strike and those of the past, is that residents of
Philadelphia have many more private options to choose from, such as Ridesharing companies
like Uber and Lyft, so residents are not entirely unable to get around, although, The vast
majority of folks rely on SEPTA, and ridesharing wouldnt necessarily be an option for them to
fully replace SEPTA, Busch also said.
On September 30th, a previous agreement between Philadelphia and these ridesharing
companies that allowed them to operate ended. This made ridesharing in the city illegal
technically, but this was hardly enforced in any way, according to CBS Local Philadelphia.
Uber reported that its sales during the strike had increased dramatically. Those who did not turn
to such alternatives as walking, biking, or driving utilized Uber and Lyft instead.
The strike fortunately saw an end one day before Election Day, after the City of Philadelphias
solicitor announced a motion to suspend the work stoppage for the occasion, BillyPenn said.