Buses, subways halted by Philly transit strike

transportstrikeinspainwquds73jwselPHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia transit system’s largest union went on strike early Tuesday, stalling the city’s bus, subway and trolley operations a day after the World Series shifted to New York and forcing commuters to scramble to find other ways to get to their destinations.

The strike by Transport Workers Union Local 234 will all but cripple a transit system that averages more than 928,000 trips each weekday. The union represents more than 5,000 drivers, operators and mechanics of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

“We don’t deserve to wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning to find out if there’s a strike,” said Jeffrey Chandler, 49, who had to call a friend for a ride to SEPTA’s regional rail line so he could get to his job as a hotel room attendant.

The union had threatened to go on strike during the World Series. But over the weekend Gov. Ed Rendell ordered the union and SEPTA to remain at the bargaining table or risk consequences. There had been no talk of an imminent walkout as recently as Monday evening.

But Willie Brown, the local’s president, said workers decided to strike after both sides agreed that they had gone as far as they could in negotiations over salary, pension and health care issues. No new negotiations were scheduled Tuesday.

“We’re very anxious to get back to the bargaining table ASAP,” SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said. “We haven’t heard back from them.”

Messages left with the union by The Associated Press seeking further comment on the negotiations were not immediately returned.

The strike announcement came just hours after thousands of fans took the subway home following the Phillies’ victory over the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series, the last game to be played at Citizens Bank Park this season. Brown said the strike was effective as of 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The doors to subway stations were gated shut Tuesday and no buses crawled the streets in the city’s downtown corridor.

“We don’t deserve to wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning to find out if there’s a strike,” said Jeffrey Chandler, 49, who had to call a friend for a ride to SEPTA’s regional rail line so he could get to his job as a hotel room attendant.

Aisha Nnoli, a doctor from Upper Darby, had just finished a 12-hour shift at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital downtown when she found the gates closed at her subway stop. When she went to the next station and saw it was also closed, she said she started realizing there might be a strike.

Eventually, she went to a SEPTA information kiosk and found she could get halfway home by using regional rail. But that would still leave her more than 3 miles from her door.

Aisha Nnoli, a doctor from Upper Darby, had just finished a 12-hour shift at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital when she found the gates closed at her elevated train stop. When she went to the next station and saw it was also closed, she said she started realizing there might be a strike.

Eventually, she went to an information kiosk and found that she could at least get halfway home by using regional rail.

“It’s an inconvenience, obviously,” Nnoli said.

The Election Day strike also affects buses that serve the suburbs in Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties. Regional rail service was still operating, but trains were delayed as they experienced higher-than-normal crowds.

The two sides had postponed a scheduled Sunday night meeting. They met again Monday at Rendell’s regional office in Philadelphia. Maloney said the talks ended after union negotiators walked out at around midnight.

The union membership voted Oct. 25 to authorize a strike. They have been without a contract since March.

Union workers, who earn an average $52,000 a year, are seeking an annual 4 percent wage hike and want to keep the current 1 percent contribution they make toward the cost of their health care coverage.

SEPTA was offering an 11.5 percent wage increase over 5 years, with a $1,250 signing bonus in the first year, and increases in workers’ pensions, Maloney said.

Given the economic downturn, layoffs and wage freezes in other sectors, the governor said Tuesday that SEPTA’s offer was “sensational.”

“It was a very good contract in the best of times,” Rendell said. “It was, in my judgment, nuts to walk out. I think the SEPTA workers would have jumped at this.”

A 2005 SEPTA strike lasted seven days, while a 1998 transit strike lasted for 40 days.

Frank Brinkman, a union member who does electronic work on an elevated SEPTA train, was out on the picket line early Tuesday. He said he was concerned about pension issues and changes to work rules.

“We’ve been ready since March 15,” Brinkman said of the strike. “We’re in here for the long haul.”

He said the union didn’t want to strike, but that SEPTA gave it no choice.

“We don’t want to see anybody suffer,” he said. “We have to stand up for our rights.”

Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS number of students in Philadelphia district to about 162,000.)