Philadelphia Transit Workers Strike After 2 Months of Talks

More than 5,000 city bus, subway and trolley workers went on strike Monday afternoon, crippling Philadelphia’s mass transit system and forcing commuters to find another way home.

The walkout stopped a transit system used by more than 200,000 people a day in Philadelphia, a city of 1.4 million people.

“I guess I’ll have to hope a cab is available,” said Jane Quinn, 71, visiting from North Carolina.

After more than two months of contract talks with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, about 5,200 operators, mechanics and custodians walked off the job at noon.

“We’re out until SEPTA comes to its senses,” said Bruce Bodner, business agent with the Transport Workers Union. “They’re not interested in negotiations. They’re trying to break the union.”

SEPTA chief counsel David L. Cohen said: “The package available now isn’t getting any better. That’s my bottom line.”

The strike is SEPTA’s second in three years and fifth since a record 44-day walkout in 1977. The union’s last strike against SEPTA, in 1995, lasted 14 days.

SEPTA’s contract offers pay raises, better pensions, early retirement for senior workers and a pledge of no layoffs.

But union officials contend that the gains would be more than offset by costly concessions, such as cuts in wages and benefits for new employees and increased health insurance co-payments.

In addition to city transit, some suburban bus and trolley routes were affected. Commuter rail lines that serve 30,000 riders were unaffected; those employees are covered by a separate union.

Joseph Lee, 66, a retired hospital employee, had an appointment about 20 blocks from his home. “I’ll take my time and walk,” he said. “Walking could be good to lose a couple pounds.”