Philadelphia Transit System Workers Strike for Better Benefits
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The Philadelphia transit system's largest union went on strike Tuesday forcing thousands of commuters to find other ways to get to work, the AP reported.
Bus, subway and trolley service in Philadelphia halted a day after the World Series shifted to New York as transit workers went on strike over wages, pensions and health benefits, Reuters said.
"We don't deserve to wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning to find out if there's a strike," Jeffrey Chandler, 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, told the AP.
"We're very anxious to get back to the bargaining table ASAP," SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney told the AP. "We haven't heard back from them."
The strike by Transport Workers Union Local 234 nearly stopped the transit system that averages more than 928,000 trips each weekday, the AP reported. The union represents more than 5,000 drivers, operators and mechanics of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Union representatives rejected SEPTA's offer of 11 percent increases in wages and company pension contributions over five years; no increase in employee health benefit contributions from the current level of 1 percent of pretax earnings, and a $1,250 signing bonus for workers, Jerri Williams, a spokeswoman for the transit agency, told Reuters.
"We believe that the package we were offering was fair and very generous," Williams said.
Philadelphia's last transit strike was in 2005, and lasted five days, Williams told Reuters. No new talks are scheduled in the current strike.
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