SEPTA to impose terms on rail workers; strike likely

June 11, 2014

SEPTA_logo_150pxSEPTA moved Monday to impose management’s terms in a long-running labor dispute with Regional Rail workers, which union leaders said could prompt a strike that would halt all commuter rail service at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

SEPTA’s goal apparently is to risk a strike now, when ridership is lower, than next winter, when more commuters and students rely on the system. Regional Rail trains carry about 126,000 riders a day.

“We need to get an agreement now,” SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey said Monday. “Seven thousand other SEPTA employees have already accepted this wage package, but these 400 are holding out.”

SEPTA chief labor relations officer Stephanie K. Deiger on Monday alerted union leaders that SEPTA had sent letters on Friday to Regional Rail engineers and electrical workers, describing its intent to give them raises proposed by SEPTA effective next Sunday.

Read the whole story at Philly.com.