By: Billy BeerSlugger
After reading my colleague Robby Ripchord’s article today I thought I would touch on SEPTA as well. SEPTA Transportation Workers Union 324 voted unanimously to authorize a strike. So now the riders of busses, trolleys and subways in Philadelphia are now subject to service interruptions should the Union decide to send it’s 5,000 plus workers to the picket line.
Coincidentally, (obviously not coincidental) this strike threat is at the exact time that the World Series would be going on. When tens of thousands of drunken people will come from all parts of the city and surrounding area to descend upon the South Philadelphia Sports Complexes. Afterward these people will want a ride home. If they can’t get home I can’t even imagine the carnage this city will endure as people flip over cars, light fires, climb slicked up lightpolls and generally destroy everything in sight. One thing you don’t want to give a drunken Philadelphia sports fan, win or lose, is a reason to get completely angry and break shit. And that’s if people can even get to the game. If people can;t get to the game there may be even more hell to pay.
SEPTA’s union does not want to increase their health care contributions from 1 to 4% and also are balking about a “wage freeze”. Which is a better term than “massive layoff”. However, I doubt the TWU will get much sympathy from the Philadelphia public on this when everyone else, including city employees are facing the same thing.
The union has been working without a contract since March which definitely gets good faith points when the negotiating begins. The bad thing is that threatening a strike during a World Series is in effect extortion, definite buku negative good faith points. As if you couldn’t decide to strike before or after the Phils are in the Series. This is what they call a little bit of leverage.
I guess the good thing is that the regional rail is on a separate union(s) so that obviously still operates and people can get in and out of the city that way to partake in the Phillies Fever and also work. However, there is no regional rail stop in South Philly and unless you’re driving, taking a cab or have a bike, you’re hoofing it from City Hall to 1 Citizens Bank Way.
SEPTA and it’s Union do not see eye to eye on things and that’s fine, but strike after the Phils win the series or there may not be transit lines left to drive subways through if the drunken masses can’t get to or out of South Philly. I’ll personally start whacking away at the Girard Ave exit on the Market-Fankford line. They should have used some of that 1.31 million from the economic stimulus to redo that piece of shit anyway. Consider it free labor.
Overall, while hundreds of thousands of people are out of work, TWU 234 says lets strike for better benefits and wages. Seems logical to me. Tell you what, lets have them strike and then fill most of their mindless jobs like the Subway Cashiers with people who do actually want to work. I mean besides the people who actually fix busses, trolleys, trains and other technical things how hard could the rest of the jobs really fucking be? Drive a bus, subway train or trolley? I mean as long as you don’t hit anyone or anything and make pickups at all the stops along the route then you’re golden baby.