SEPTA Strike Strands Thousands

Getting around the city of Philadelphia just got a heck of a lot harder – the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s 4,700 city transit workers went on strike today, stranding thousands of city commuters without a way to get between work and home. SEPTA provides nearly a million rides each weekday, between buses, subway service, and trolleys. There are fears that the strike could extend into next week, jeopardizing voters’ means of getting to the polls on Election Day next Tuesday.

SEPTA is on strike due to a disagreement with the transit union.

Commuter trains in the city suburbs were not effected by the strike, which arose due to a disagreement between the transit union and SEPTA over “pension funding, health care costs and non-economic issues including shift scheduling, break time and other measures that affect driver fatigue.” This is as per USA Today. Willie Brown, president of TWU Local 234, told press that since there could be no agreement reached, the transit union workers were on strike.

SEPTA has said that it would appeal to the courts if the matter could not be resolved in a timely manner. “If we foresee an agreement will not come to pass, SEPTA intends to seek to enjoin the strike for November 8th to ensure that the strike does not prevent any voters from getting to the polls and exercising their right to vote,” the agency said.

SEPTA, for its part, blames the union for not agreeing to terms that would have “provided pay raises and enhanced pension benefits while maintaining health care coverage levels and job security”” while still maintaining fair costs for taxpayers and riders.

The public school system depends on SEPTA to deliver many of its students to school. The schools said that they would excuse students who were tardy or absent due to lack of transportation. Meanwhile, commuters had no such luck as they fought for space in taxis, carpools, or basically anything else that moved while trying to get to work.