SEPTA Strike Over; Full Service To Resume By Election Day

The SEPTA strike is over, and service will resume by Election Day.

SEPTA and TWU Local 234 announced a tentative 5-year contract that will bring 4,700 employees back to work and end the six-day strike.

The strike threatened to throw transportation service into chaos on Election Day in a state that could prove to be pivotal in the race for the White House. There was speculation that the strike could impact Hillary Clinton's campaign in an area where many of her potential supporters could use the service to get to the polls.

Service will be phased back in Monday on the Market-Frankford Line, Broad Street Line subway, city buses and trolleys, with full schedules restored by the start of service day on Tuesday, according to a SEPTA press release.

"We believe this agreement is fair to our employees and too the fare-paying customers and taxpayers who fund SEPTA," said SEPTA Board Chairman Pasquale T. Deon. "It provides wage increases, pension improvements, maintains health care coverage levels while addressing rising costs."

TWU was lobbying SEPTA for a new deal for bus drivers, cashiers, and subway and trolley operators to replace a two-year agreement signed in 2014.

“We're talking about a guiding ideology that's at play here, which is that management is the superior class, and that the people driving the bus are inferior," TWU President Willie Brown told PlanPhilly two weeks ago.

TWU has a list of 90 demands for SEPTA in their negotiations, including things like longer bathroom breaks, better healthcare coverage, and, most of all, better pensions. TWU has endorsed Hillary Clinton for President, but said they would not lift the strike for Election Day.

Patch file photo