state picks up health care cost to settle strike , advance payments, to septa<i/>
How deal was made for union, SEPTA
Gov. Rendell agreed to an early payment to the transit agency. That led SEPTA to reduce what it had sought for health-care costs.
By Tina Moore and Larry King
Inquirer Staff Writers
The turning point in deciding how much SEPTA workers would pay for health care under a new contract came early yesterday after the sides had been working for several hours in separate rooms in Gov. Rendell's office suite at the Bellevue, the governor said yesterday.
Rendell agreed to advance promised funds to SEPTA so it could pay its health-care premiums in advance. The move would save SEPTA $15 million, he said, and enable the agency to require workers to pay 1 percent of their salaries toward health care rather than kicking in 5 percent of the cost of their health plans.
The plan came more than five hours after Rendell aides began shuttling between the transit authority and Transport Workers Union Local 234 on the 11th floor of the Bellevue, trying to break the weeklong strike that clogged traffic and left many residents without a way to work. The sides were huddled around tables in conference rooms about 21 strides apart.
"They would go to TWU and say, 'You can't have all this because they've moved on something else,' " Rendell said. "And then they would take that back to SEPTA and say, 'You can't have this because they just moved on that.' "
Once in a while, one of the aides or negotiators would stop by Rendell's office to ask him a question as he watched the Eagles game on TV.
Finally, at 5 a.m., the sides met face to face for the first time since the night before - proposed contract in hand, Rendell said yesterday in an interview.
"It was brutal and everyone was exhausted," Rendell said. "But I think everyone was happy."
Subways, buses and trolleys were expected to be back on regular schedules by this morning, SEPTA spokesman Jim Whitaker said.
For 400,000 daily riders, the agreement ended seven long days of aggravation, during which they had been forced to crowd onto Regional Rail trains, to hire taxis, to impose on friends for rides, or to just sit at home, stuck.
Soon after it was clear the strike was about to end, Jeffrey Brooks, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, called the union's Spring Garden Street office, spokesman Bob Bedard said. Workers there were directed to begin calling bus drivers, technicians and other employees back to work.
Shortly after dawn, commuters who had heard the news that the strike was over began trickling back to transit stops and stations throughout the region, though it would take much of the day for full service to be restored.
At the 69th Street Terminal, Carlotta Love of Drexel Hill said she was thankful to get back the two extra hours she had been using to commute to her job as a legal secretary at a University City law firm.
"On strike, you've got to depend on other people to get you around, and traffic was just gridlocked," said Love, 44, who arranged one last car ride to 69th Street and a happy reunion with the Market-Frankford El.
For 5,000 members of the TWU, the proposed four-year deal marked a resumption of paychecks and benefits - the paychecks to be slightly larger, the benefits slightly more expensive. The membership is expected to vote on the contract by the end of the week.
The contract calls for four straight years of 3 percent pay increases. And for the first time, all Local 234 members will contribute to the cost of their medical insurance premiums, a concession that SEPTA had been determined to win.
But those contributions will not be made on the terms that SEPTA had wished. Instead, workers will contribute 1 percent of their pay for up to 40 hours per week.
"We made strides, so did SEPTA, and we're pleased with this agreement," Brooks said. "I believe my members and my executive board will ratify this."
SEPTA management agreed as well to contribute a percentage of its wages toward its own health plans - also a first. While managers' contributions are not included in the contract, Rendell said he intended to enforce the plan.
SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said the length of the contract would give the transit authority a period of stability in which to make its case for a dedicated source of state funding.
"I don't think we've ever had a four-year deal before," Maloney said. "That allows us to work on the budget in Harrisburg without having to worry about labor contracts."
Maloney said the comparatively short duration of the strike - the last one was 40 days - would not result in much lost ridership. "If the strike lasts a week or less, history shows it will pop right back," he said.
Local 234 and United Transportation Union 1594 went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 31 after contract negotiations stalled.
Local 1594, which represents about 325 suburban operators, also reached a contract agreement yesterday morning. The terms are similar to those of Local 234, Whitaker said.
On Broad Street in North Philadelphia yesterday afternoon, the rumbling of the subway was a sweet sound. Near the subway station at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Jacqueline Leonard, 48, said she was "very delighted" the strike had ended.
"I had to travel in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an hour and a half each way," said Leonard, who travels from her home in Sicklerville to her job as an assistant math professor at Temple University.
The cost of cab fare each day to and from her job in Center City was taking a toll on Angelina Paige-Howard. She said she paid about $100 in fares during five days for the commute from her home at 44th and Sansom Streets.
Others thanked Rendell for his role in ending the SEPTA standstill as he walked along Broad Street yesterday afternoon to pick up a pair of shoes and stop at Dunkin' Donuts.
In the end, he said, "I tried to convince them that it wasn't SEPTA vs. TWU. It was TWU and SEPTA trying to convince the state legislature to help them, and they couldn't have a long strike."
Proposed Contract
Duration: 4 years.
Pay: 3 percent hike each year.
Health-care premium: Workers would contribute 1 percent of their pay, up to 40 hours. (SEPTA had sought 5 percent premiums.)
Managers will pay a similar percentage of their salary.
Unions covered:5,000 members of Transport Workers Union Local 234, 325 members of United Transportation Union Local 1594.
Ratification votes: Both unions are likely to vote by week's end.
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Contact staff writer Tina Moore at 215-854-2759 or tmoore@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writers Marc Schogol, Vernon Clark and Kellie Patrick contributed to this article.
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