SEPTA Plans for Midnight Strike
UPDATE 1:55 pm: 6ABC says a strike unlikely tonight:
A union source told Action News’ David Henry that despite the skipped bargaining session Friday morning, a transit strike is very unlikely this weekend, and would remain unlikely until contracts with two other unions representing SEPTA workers expire on April 6th.
The source cautioned against reading anything into union negotiators’ absence from Friday morning’s session, Henry reported. The source said union negotiators were simply not prepared for the 9:00 a.m. session after bargaining late into the night Thursday night.
ORIGINAL: Fox 29 reports SEPTA is planning for 4,700 Philadelphia bus drivers, subway and trolley operators and maintenance workers to strike at midnight. Union reps didn’t show up for today’s scheduled talks.
At a news conference held late Friday morning, SEPTA disclosed its contingency plans. In the event of a work stoppage, all city bus, trolley and subway lines will be discontinued. Some suburban buses will have changes.
The Market-Frankford, Broad Street and Broad-Ridge Spur lines will also not run.
A strike would not, however, affect service on the Regional Rail lines.
We at Philly Mag have made our own preparations! Christopher Sawyer has warned that a strike might hurt SEPTA’s credibility, while I wrote earlier this month how the union can inconvenience commuters without sacrificing worker solidarity. We’re planning on a lot more walking, in any case.
