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Its that time again......
Topic Started: Dec 18 2008, 07:55 AM (958 Views)
rider65
Advanced Transit Fan
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SEPTA, union begin contract negotiations
By Paul Nussbaum

Inquirer Staff Writer

SEPTA and its largest union began contract negotiations yesterday, hoping to avert a repeat of a seven-day strike that crippled bus and subway service in 2005.
The current contract, affecting about 4,700 operators and mechanics in the City Transit Division, expires March 15. It will set the pattern for negotiations with SEPTA's other unions.

SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey and Transport Workers Union Local 234 president Willie Brown exchanged proposals during a brief meeting, and negotiations will begin in earnest after the holidays.

Neither side discussed specifics after the meeting, but SEPTA's proposed budget for the next fiscal year assumes a 3 percent increase in labor costs and a nearly 8 percent increase in fringe benefits.

Casey said the weak economy and new uncertainties in state funding would affect SEPTA's ability to meet labor's requests. He said the chief issues would be wages, pensions, and health-care benefits.

He said the value of SEPTA's pension fund for its employees has dropped from $800 million to $478 million in the past year. And he said a decline in state sales-tax receipts and the state's failure to toll I-80 or lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike jeopardizes SEPTA's funding from the state, which provides about half of the agency's $1.1 billion operating budget.

"I'm still confident we can negotiate a fair contract," Casey said.

Brown urged SEPTA to "move away from the tired old confrontational tactics of past talks" and work with the union to reach a contract. He said in a statement that as ridership has increased and state funding has improved, "it is clear that we are entering negotiations at a time when the authority is positioned to expand and improve service to the riding public."

Brown said his members want greater "dignity and respect" from SEPTA, and he said he hoped the union could forge a partnership with the transit authority.

SEPTA bus, subway and trolley operators earn from $14.54 to $24.24 per hour, reaching the top rate after four years. Mechanics earn $14.40 to $27.59 an hour.

TWU members currently contribute 1 percent of their pay to their medical-insurance coverage.

Contracts expire in early April for about 720 SEPTA employees in the Suburban Transit Division.

SEPTA unions have gone on strike 11 times in the last 33 years.
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rider65
Advanced Transit Fan
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Statement by Willie Brown, President of TWU Local 234


Last update: 10:30 a.m. EST Dec. 17, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, Dec 17, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following statement was issued by TWU Local 234 President Willie Brown following the exchange of contract proposals by the Union and SEPTA on Wednesday, December 17, 2008:
My name is Willie Brown and I am the President of TWU Local 234 and I am joined here today by Brian Pollitt, Executive Vice President, Joe Coccio, our Secretary-Treasurer and the elected officers of Local 234.
Today we formally presented our contract proposals for the contract that expires in March, 2009 to the SEPTA contract bargaining team.
As a result of spiraling gas prices earlier this year, combined with the deepening recession facing our national economy, more and more people are turning to public transit to meet their transportation needs.
Even though gas prices have fallen recently, it is a well known fact that SEPTA's ridership is up significantly and the riding public shows little sign of wanting to take a chance on going back to driving to work.
It is clear that we are entering negotiations with SEPTA at a time when the Authority is positioned to expand and improve service to the riding public.
I am here today to announce that our coming contract negotiations will be primarily focused on forging a new, more cooperative, relationship with SEPTA; one that gives the members of Local 234 -- the people who move Philadelphia and this region -- the respect and dignity they deserve.
In order to improve service levels for the riding public and work more cooperatively with our Union, SEPTA needs to change its longstanding management culture in contract negotiations with our Union.
They need to move away from the tired old confrontational tactics of past talks and instead adopt a more cooperative approach that enables both SEPTA and our Union to achieve common goals.
It is clear that SEPTA has an opportunity, with the state of the economy and the resulting increase in ridership, to improve the level of service to the riding public. TWU Local 234 wants to help that process.
We are looking for a true partnership, not window dressing.
In order to achieve that goal, SEPTA must recognize that our Local 234 members and the ridership of the system are the two constants in the service equation.
That recognition starts with an understanding by SEPTA management of the connection between our members and the ridership.
Our Local 234 members are the one consistent face the riding public sees at SEPTA.
It would be in everybody's best interest for SEPTA management to change from the old confrontational style they have had for years and, instead, reach out in a more cooperative way to work with our Union to improve service.
SEPTA managers come and go, but we have many TWU Local 234 members who have been delivering excellent service to the riding public for 30 years or more.
Our members run the transit system, so they know how to make it more efficient. SEPTA would better service the riding public if they engaged Local 234 members in a cooperative effort to improve service instead of looking at us as the enemy.
That is why we are looking forward to these negotiations as a way to challenge SEPTA to go in a new direction -- one that will benefit the Authority, our Union's members and the ridership we all seek to serve.
The economics of the contract negotiations are what they are. We will be making our case for wage and benefit improvements that we believe are justified by the excellent service our members deliver to the riding public.
We know we are in for a tough fight to win a fair contract. Our members are fully prepared to go on strike, if we have to, in order to get the good contract we deserve and that we have earned.
Just as important as our monetary proposals is our goal of having SEPTA deliver the dignity and respect our members deserve and have earned.
In the end, it doesn't cost SEPTA anything to treat our members and the ridership with dignity and respect.
During these negotiations we will also address some of the expensive sub-contracts, including maintenance and repair work on SEPTA vehicles, that our Local 234 members could have done right in the first place and at far less expense.
We believe that the reason for these ongoing management mistakes has more to do with the revolving door of turnover at the management level than it does with the performance of Local 234 members.
In fact, top management turnover far exceeds the turnover rates for our Union's members and the result is the constantly changing priorities that every new wave of management tries to impose that too often cause even more waste and inefficiency.
Our members run the transit system, so they know how to make it more efficient. SEPTA would be able to better serve the riding public if they engaged Local 234 members in a cooperative effort to improve service instead of looking at us as the enemy.
We want to help SEPTA through the collective bargaining process and the negotiations for the next contract because we believe it benefits our members and the riding public if the Authority is operating at a higher level of efficiency.
That is all the more reason why we need to settle this contract and get about the business of making SEPTA the best transit authority in the world.
We hope that SEPTA will join us in that effort.
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TheOneCalledA1
Too smart for you idiots
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Mid-March contract expiration? Sweet, right on time for the PSSAs...
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TRANSIT_FREAK
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to Life, Love & LOOT
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TheOneCalledA1
Dec 19 2008, 03:09 PM
Mid-March contract expiration? Sweet, right on time for the PSSAs...
Don't remind me ^o)
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TheOneCalledA1
Too smart for you idiots
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TRANSIT_FREAK100
Dec 19 2008, 07:09 PM
TheOneCalledA1
Dec 19 2008, 03:09 PM
Mid-March contract expiration? Sweet, right on time for the PSSAs...
Don't remind me ^o)
Sweet, right on time for the PSSAs...
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Septa_kid
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What if...
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TheOneCalledA1
Dec 19 2008, 07:25 PM
TRANSIT_FREAK100
Dec 19 2008, 07:09 PM
TheOneCalledA1
Dec 19 2008, 03:09 PM
Mid-March contract expiration? Sweet, right on time for the PSSAs...
Don't remind me ^o)
Sweet, right on time for the PSSAs...
The who-da-what-now? when are the PSSA's and How will this affect me (I am in the 10th) I seriously hope I don't have to take those!
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TheOneCalledA1
Too smart for you idiots
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If you don't remember them from 8th grade, then don't worry about it. You'll do fine.

You take them in 11th grade, which is what I am in.
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Southern_8100
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Elmwood Depot.
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TheOneCalledA1
Dec 20 2008, 04:28 PM
If you don't remember them from 8th grade, then don't worry about it. You'll do fine.

You take them in 11th grade, which is what I am in.
Not at all schools. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia does not require students to take the PSSA's.
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TheOneCalledA1
Too smart for you idiots
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Southern_8100
Dec 20 2008, 09:03 PM
TheOneCalledA1
Dec 20 2008, 04:28 PM
If you don't remember them from 8th grade, then don't worry about it. You'll do fine.

You take them in 11th grade, which is what I am in.
Not at all schools. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia does not require students to take the PSSA's.
Well, anybody who attends a public HS should know all of the tests they will be taking in the near future. PSAT, SAT (or ACT), PSSA, TerraNova (not sure if they're still doing these for HS, though) and of course the other amazing tests, Benchmarks.
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ED77KATR
Transit Fan
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I heard at the union section meeting Friday night the union is going for a one year extension!! Economic situation may be better in Spring 2010. Not the first time thats been done. 2004 was last.
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