SEPTA subways, trolleys and buses resumed service yesterday after the end of a weeklong strike that displaced nearly half a million commuters daily.
At 5:30 yesterday morning, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced that the leaders of striking Transport Workers Union Local 234 and SEPTA officials had reached agreement on a new contract.
Rendell said that the contract was a "good deal," adding that workers will receive reasonable wage increases, while SEPTA will not be forced to implement any fare increases despite rising costs.
The transit agency faced a $42.7 million budget deficit in March, before it was bailed out with federal highway funds.
Rendell added that the contract is a welcome resolution for "the SEPTA riders and all Philadelphians, who have struggled to get around the city while this agreement was being hammered out."
Under the new four-year contract, which still awaits final approval from union members, workers will receive 3 percent annual pay raises.
All 5,000 Local 234 members will also pay for part of SEPTA's health-care costs on a sliding scale based on salary.
Unlike SEPTA's original proposal that workers pay 5 percent of health-care premium costs, union members will instead contribute 1 percent of their pay, based on 40-hour workweeks.
Union leaders had previously refused to agree to any health-care contributions by veteran transit workers.
"Overall, we think it was a big victory," union spokesman Bob Bedard said. "The little guy doesn't have to subsidize the fat cat's health care."
Since the union's contract expired in June, negotiations had stalled primarily over health care.
When City Controller Jonathan Saidel introduced the sliding-scale payment plan on Oct. 29, compromise seemed closer. But the two sides reached a settlement only after Rendell intervened Sunday.
"I don't know if we would have gotten off the dime if it hadn't been for [Saidel], and I don't know if we could have closed the deal if it wasn't for the governor," Bedard said.
Following the strike's conclusion, Penn contingency-plan shuttle service ended yesterday afternoon.
Overtime pay for the shuttle service cost the University about $6,000, said Larry Bell, director of Business Services.
However, calculating the exact cost of the strike is difficult, Transportation Engineering professor Vukan Vuchic said.
"Not being able to travel means you may not be able to go to school, the hospital, the opera [or] to shop somewhere," he said. "One would really have to make a fairly comprehensive analysis of all these activities."
Costs created by the public-transit shutdown also go beyond the economic, Vuchic said.
"You cannot quantify my inconvenience for not going to the opera," he said. "How do you put a price on that?"
For Frank Scriven, a Penn Bookstore cashier, the personal costs were high.
During the strike, he had to walk one hour from his West Philadelphia home to get to work instead of riding the trolley.
"It was very inconvenient," said Scriven, who works six days a week. "But I had to do what I had to do."
Due to the service interruptions, SEPTA is offering refunds and exchanges for riders with unused or partially used TransPasses and TrailPasses.
One positive aspect of the new contract, Vuchic said, is that it will last for four years, instead of two or three.
This means that the city public-transit system should run for four years without another strike threat, he said.
Still, he added, the cycle of labor negotiations, strike threats and actual strikes is becoming an outdated and inefficient process.
"Strikes should not be allowed in public transportation," Vuchic said. "The service is too essential and basic and vital to the city."
Bedard apologized to SEPTA riders for the inconvenience of the strike, but defended the union's actions.
"Sometimes you have to stand up for what is right, and we hope that people will think kindly now that the system is back and running," he said. "Hopefully everybody will be a little happier."
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