Effective on November 1, 2016 at 12:01 AM, workers for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) walked off the job and began a strike. This is the third strike that SEPTA workers have taken part in in the last decade: 2005, 2009 and now in 2016.
The union, Transit Workers Union local 234, is made up of thousands of bus operators, train operators, station booth attendants, and facility maintenance workers who serve and operate within the city of Philadelphia. SEPTA serves and operates in the whole of the Southeastern Pennsylvania, but management has taken a hard line against TWU workers in the city. Workers for the regional rail service that operates in the suburbs are represented by a different union which is not on strike, since solidarity strikes are outrageously illegal in the United States.
This time around in the strike in 2016, SEPTA looks to line their pockets by subtracting millions of dollars off of workers’ retirements funds, insurance and pensions. The company looks to raise monthly insurance payments from $552 a year to up to $6,000. This concession is being demanded of workers even though SEPTA raised fares (while keeping their employees’ salaries the same) a few years ago. The union also opposes caps on pensions that are imposed on workers’ retirement benefits but not managers.
Despite the fare increases, SEPTA is negligent when it comes to upkeep for their stations and equipment. The company only recently begun renovating some of the stations along the Market-Frankford train line despite the repairs being planned for nearly a decade.
The media and SEPTA management have been pushing a narrative that the workers are greedy and impatient since they are choosing to strike. It is true that there is widespread frustration with the quality of SEPTA service in the city, but the truth is that the employees are subjected to working conditions and policies by management that make it extremely stressful to do their job. Friction between the workers and riders are embedded in the practice of the company headed by the capitalist executives, whose only motivation is their bottom line. It is important that the people of this city show solidarity with the workers of SEPTA during this strike and still stand with them after their demands are met.
The strike was brought about by the neoliberal defunding and privatization of the public sector that allows these events to take precedent. We must stand with all workers and the right to walk off the job and strike until their fair demands are met.
