SEPTA and union continue contract negotiations; Philadelphia parents and schools are trying to find alternatives

PHILADELPHIA – SEPTA and union workers are negotiating while the city is just hours away from more than 5,000 SEPTA workers possibly walking off the job. Their contract expires at midnight.

Parents are very concerned about how a possible strike could affect their children. Marlene Idopchil said: “Unfortunately they all take the bus. Mom can’t take everyone to school.”

She says her four children rely on SEPTA to get to school in Center City, North Philadelphia and the Northeast. She says she would understand if SEPTA workers decided to go on strike. “Rent, food and everything else is skyrocketing and there is no increase, I can understand that because I myself would like a raise right now.”

Since June, Transport Workers Union Local 234 has been negotiating a contract with SEPTA for better wages and job safety. It is SEPTA’s largest union, with 5,000 members representing operators of the city’s buses, trolleys, Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines.

The strike will impact all of these services.

Union leaders are proposing a one-year deal with a 10 percent wage increase, but SEPTA says it faces a serious financial crisis.

SEPTA spokesman Andrew Bush explained, “We’re looking at a budget shortfall of about a quarter of a billion dollars, and that’s about 20 percent of our total expenses for the year, and that’s what goes into running the system on a daily basis.”

Transportation Workers Union Local 234 President Brian Pollitt noted, “It’s funny how SEPTA tells you about the financial cliff and the $200 million deficit, but what they don’t tell you is the $600 million in the rainy day fund. We’re not asking for $600 million, but we’re asking for a little.”

The School District of Philadelphia says if there is a strike and attendance is severely impacted, the district could move to virtual learning. The superintendent remains hopeful that a strike can be avoided altogether.

“Kids are learning more in school with their teachers and then virtually or at home, so we’re hopeful that things will get better and our kids will be in school,” Dr. Tony Watlington Sr., superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia. , said.

Monday will be Imani Brown’s first day of school, and she planned to take SEPTA: “How else are we going to get to school and stuff and drive back and forth to places?”

Parent Kai Brown added: “This will be detrimental to the city and with it will be detrimental to our children and the economy as a whole, so I really hope they can come to a final resolution.”