PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — As the city’s transit union fights for better pay and improved working conditions, leaders are sitting down with SEPTA management in hopes of coming to an agreement.
The two sides returned to the negotiating table on Tuesday and spent about three and a half hours hashing out the details for a new contract.
Talks will start back up again on Thursday. A spokesperson for SEPTA says progress was made Tuesday and there’s no indication a strike will be called in the meantime.
Members of Transport Workers Union Local 234 voted to authorize a strike on Sunday. That does not mean a strike is necessarily going to happen, but it gives leaders the power to call one, and it is essentially used as a bargaining chip.
“Any time they’re getting together and talking at the negotiating table, that’s a good sign,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch told Action News. “So anytime you’re negotiating a contract like this, you’re having to talk about wages, benefits, work rules and some other things. So it does take time to go through those. So it hasn’t really been a sticking point, per se, so far, but it is just a number of things that you have to go through.”
The union represents about 5,000 workers, including operators of the city’s buses, subways, and trolleys.
Meanwhile, the union representing SEPTA workers in the suburbs could also be moving toward a strike.
The contract for SMART Local 1594, which represents 350 operators of buses and the Norristown High-Speed Line, expires Tuesday night.
Members will vote on whether to authorize a strike on Friday. The union says it continues to negotiate in good faith.
“Those contracts usually expire within a couple of weeks of each other, and usually the TWU City Division contract is the one that sets the pattern for all of the other unions,” Busch said.
The two unions were in a similar spot around this time last year, but were able to reach a deal with SEPTA. The one-year agreement included a 5% wage increase and safety improvements, such as bulletproof enclosures for drivers.
A strike would not impact Regional Rail riders, who have already been dealing with more than six weeks of delays and cancellations due to federally mandated emergency inspections.
Riders who rely on SEPTA to get around the city are crossing their fingers, hoping the two sides can reach an agreement.
“For them to go on strike, it would be very bad because there’s a lot of people out here that have night jobs and they are trying to get home,” Shirley Carter said.
“I rely on subway and bus pretty much every day to get to work,” Jillian Glazer told Action News.
And more than 50,000 students in Philadelphia rely on public transportation to get to school. That includes Benjamin Johnson, who says the impact would be huge for him and his classmates.
“Quite detrimentally, to be frank. We already have a lot of issues with latenesses and absences due to SEPTA,” Johnson said.
A spokesperson for the school district told Action News: “We understand the anxiety and concerns surrounding students getting to and from school should there be disruptions in Septa services. We’re urging parents to devise a plan if their children’s route to school should be impacted. We also suggest that families carpool with friends. We always ask that a parents’/guardians’ note accompany the children who are tardy or must dismiss early. It’s always wonderful if the parent or guardian is able to accompany students when they are tardy or need to be dismissed early. We have conversations with SEPTA so that we are up-to-date on the transit authority’s plans.”
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
