SEPTA Union: Strike Will Happen, But Not This Week

By Alison Smith:

The head of a transit workers’ union said Monday that SEPTA’s bus drivers will strike -- but not this week.

Willie Brown, the president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, said Monday that a strike will last “as long as it takes,” The Philadelphia Inquirer said.

TWU Local 234 represents more than 5,000 SEPTA bus drivers, subway and trolley operators and other transit workers, the union said. The Inquirer said it is the largest of SEPTA’s 17 unions.

The union on Sunday voted to strike. The main disagreement is over pension funding, the Inquirer said. Talks between the union and SEPTA continue.

The last TWU strike, in November 2009, was six days, the Inquirer said, but a strike in 1998 lasted 40 days.

Regional Rail would continue to operate in the event of such a strike.