No new negotiations are planned as the Transit Workers Union strike enters its third full day. The two sides in the strike of the Transport Workers Union Local 234 against SEPTA management are doing a lot of talking -- just not to each other. While the city and the 450,000 people who rely on SEPTA subways, buses and trolleys every day are beginning to feel the increasing effects of the transit shutdown, neither the union nor SEPTA seems willing to come to the table to negotiate a new contract. Or rather, according to representatives from both sides, it is the other side that does not want to make any concessions. "All's quiet at the bargaining table -- regrettably," SEPTA spokesperson Stephan Rosenfeld said. "This is a totally unnecessary strike [and] the vast majority of union members feel that way." "The TWU is prepared to negotiate at any time," TWU business agent Bruce Bodner countered. "We've been trying to negotiate since December. The problem in this dispute is SEPTA's inability to negotiate in good faith." On Monday, more than 5,200 SEPTA employees walked off the job at noon after working for 2 1/2 months without a contract. The union and management had been negotiating since December to draft a new contract to replace the old one, which expired March 15. Talks broke down the day before the strike began and have not resumed since. At the heart of the TWU's grievances against management are the 47 "take-away demands" negotiators made of union leaders, Bodner said. He blasted the plans by SEPTA to "take back rights and benefits that are already in our contracts." He cited Blue Cross/Blue Shield indemnity health coverage, job-picking rights for maintenance workers and clauses related to job security and workers' compensation as items that management has tried to eliminate from workers' contracts. "These negotiations are atypical," Bodner said. "It's not about the union trying to get benefits that management can't afford. It's about management trying to break the union." The two sides have also managed to produce two vastly different interpretations of how the city is coping with the increasingly difficult transportation conditions in the city. Rosenfeld cited "very effective" alternate-travel plans drawn up by city institutions -- including the University -- for making a "gut-wrenching experience" less traumatic. But Bodner disagreed, insisting "the longer the strike goes, the harder it will be" on tourism, SEPTA riders and the local economy. Yet, management and union officials did tacitly agree on two points: the lack of any mechanisms to end the strike in the very near future and the harmful impact the work stoppage is having on Philadelphia's lower class. While Rosenfeld said that he had "no idea" when talks might resume, Bodner prophesied that the strike "is going to go on for a long time" -- much longer than the 14-day walk-out TWU members staged in 1995. Continuing the war of words, Rosenfeld accused the union of hurting the surrounding community through its efforts. "The people getting hurt the most are those who most need SEPTA -- the low income people," he said. "We are their car." However, Bodner said that management's desire for more lower-paid part-time labor aimed to eliminate many of the few "good middle class jobs in the city of Philadelphia." Bodner went so far as to include Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell in the conspiracy, pointing out the mayor's "close personal ties" to David Cohen -- SEPTA management's chief labor counsel -- who served as Rendell's chief of staff during his first mayoral term. "It's about a class war being run by the city against its people," Bodner said. "That's an attack on job opportunities for Philadelphians." Meanwhile, SEPTA riders were put off by the bickering and seemed more concerned about the effect that the strike will have on their daily commutes. "I think it sucks," said Frank DiMeglio, who takes the subway to get to work. "I think [management]'s getting greedy. DiMeglio added that the workers he had spoken to did not want to go out on strike, but that they were forced to as a last resort. Bodner was confident that these workers -- who have no "strike fund" and must live off of their savings for the duration of the strike -- will weather the storm. "I think SEPTA thinks that if the strike goes past two weeks, our membership will crack," he said. "We may have to suffer and struggle in the short run, but it's the only way to preserve our jobs."
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