Commuters Hit By Philly Transit Strike
Philadelphians are having trouble getting around their city today as a result of a transit strike most hadn't expected. SEPTA carries 900,000 riders each day on trains, subways and buses. SEPTA leaders approved a strike at 3 a.m. Tuesday.
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From victory to inconvenience in Philadelphia. Commuters are scrambling due to a mass transit strike. It comes after a night when the Phillies kept their World Series hopes alive.
From member station WHYY in Philadelphia, Shai Ben-Yaacov reports.
SHAI BEN-YAACOV: Philadelphians who went to sleep early last night woke up to more than one surprise. The Phillies won Game 5 of the World Series, and the city's bus, subway and trolley operators were on strike.
Across the region, nurses who rely on mass transit tried frantically to get to hospitals. Those on night shifts were left stranded or caught taxis. And as the sun rose over William Penn's statue atop city hall, people buying their morning coffee debated a tough question: Do middle-income workers have a right to strike when that step harms other workers?
West Philadelphian Pat Depasquel(ph) woke up at 6 a.m. and walked from West Philadelphia to Center City to get to work. That's about six miles.
Mr. PAT DEPASQUEL: Yeah, my two sisters work downtown. They all came down with a hack cab. Hack cab drove them to here, then they're going to walk down to Center City.
BEN-YAACOV: The regional transit agency, known as SEPTA, carries 900,000 riders a day on its buses, subways and trolleys. Today also happens to be Election Day. It's an off-year election for Philadelphia, but voters are still choosing a new district attorney and state Supreme Court justice. Bill Englund(ph) comes to Center City, Philadelphia from Elkins Park, just north of the city, and is nervous about getting home in time.
Mr. BILL ENGLUND: You know, if I work my normal day till 5:30, 6 o'clock, I may find myself running to try to get to the polls, and that's a critically important thing today for me to get out and vote.
BEN-YAACOV: Denise Ripley(ph), a lifelong North Philadelphia resident, is angered that the strike will affect mostly lower-income residents. The city's commuter rail lines, which serve the Philadelphia suburbs, are still running. Their conductors have a separate contract.
Ms. DENISE RIPLEY: It's affecting urban communities. It's not affecting the people that live out there in the suburbs. They're going to get to work. They've got cars, even if - but it's not affecting them. It's affecting low-income, working people. That's why it's important to have SEPTA run. We cannot afford this to our community. It's not good.
BEN-YAACOV: Contract talks have been on and off since March. SEPTA officials say they've offered the union wage increases totaling 11.5 percent over five years. The union had been seeking a four-year deal with a four percent raise each year. Last week, union members gave leadership the go-ahead to call a strike.
Still, word over the weekend was that recent talks were constructive. So the overnight strike shocked many, including Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.
Mayor MICHAEL NUTTER (Philadelphia): To decide at midnight or so to go out on strike at 3 a.m. is, I think, the height of insensitivity and disruption to people and their lives.
BEN-YAACOV: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, fearing a black eye for Philadelphia, asked the union not to strike until after the three World Series home games. Union leaders held to the letter of that agreement, waiting until 3 o'clock this morning to idle the city's transit. No talks were scheduled as of earlier this afternoon.
For NPR News, I'm Shai Ben-Yaacov in Philadelphia.
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Strike-crowded Philly commuter train catches fire
A Philadelphia commuter train caught fire during the morning rush Wednesday, complicating commutes hampered by the city's transit strike. Officials said no injuries were reported.
Flames could be seen shooting from the front of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority regional train shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday. A big cloud of smoke also billowed from the train, which was heading east from the Overbrook station in West Philadelphia toward the Amtrak station in Center City.
William Rafferty, 27, of Pottstown, a lab technician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said he had to calm down another passenger on the packed train, and he saw other passengers kicking out the removable emergency windows. Once outside the train, he took a picture of the front of the train with flames and smoke.
"I already texted in the photos to my boss. I said 'This was my train,'" he said. "He said he'll see me when he sees me, so I'm going to start making the hike." Rafferty esimated that it would take about an hour to walk to his workplace.
"It started to smoke while were stopped at the (Overbrook) station," said paralegal Laura Bryans, 37, and conductors soon told everyone to move to one of the rear cars. She eventually moved all of the way to the final car and got out when the train stopped and was evacuated.
"You could smell something, but I thought it was the brakes," said Cynthia Reid, 55, who works in a community college financial aid office and was in the second car on her commute from Thorndale in Chester County. Black smoke began pouring out soon after the train pulled out of the station, she said.
"I don't understand why we even left the station," Reid said. "I have no idea how I'm getting in to work today."
The sudden strike called early Tuesday by Transport Workers Union Local 234 all but crippled the agency, which averages more than 928,000 trips each weekday. The transit agency's largest union walked away from negotiations on a new contract over disagreements on wage, pension and health care issues.
Union workers, who earn an average of $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 health care coverage. Their contract expired in March.
SEPTA was offering an 11.5 percent wage increase over five years, with a $1,250 signing bonus in the first year, and increases in workers' pensions, SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said.
The strike also affects buses that serve the suburbs in Bucks, Montgomery and Chester counties. Regional rail service is still operating, but trains have been delayed as they experienced larger-than-normal crowds.
A 2005 SEPTA strike lasted seven days, while a 1998 transit strike lasted for 40 days.
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