How can the strike end?

I keep going over this in my head...how many possible out comes are there in the current situation. It seems like SEPTA has no leverage except for hoping that they starve out the union. At the same time SEPTA is eating the future by ticking off ridership and making the folks in Harrisburg think even less of them.

Seems like the union is in a far stronger position and that management has no real choices.

Well they do have a choice and I think that choice might be bringing outside bus drivers to run the trunk routes and or using management on the orange and blue lines.

Other wise why not just give in to the union and stop punishing the riding public...

Because it will undoubtedly cause a fare hike.

The '98 strike was rather long but I think I was left with the impression that the union lost that one, they may have met in the middle but if I'm not mistaken they missed their paychecks and came back to the table. I don't think SEPTA has the capital to pay their skyrocketing health benefits, so this is the only possible solution. Wait it out.

greg19051 wrote:Because it will undoubtedly cause a fare hike.

...to which the Mayor has adamantly expressed his opposition.

I think a fare hike is in the cards for the very near future, strike or no strike, contract or no contract, Mayor Street or no Mayor Street. Remember that Harrisburg stalled on granting dedicated funding statewide, and in SEPTA's particular case they are blatantly awaiting the conclusion of contract talks. The strike could have been averted last year when the Governor and the Legislature had their pissing contest. They had a golden opportunity to provide SEPTA and the other fledgling transit agencies across the Commonwealth with dedicated funding. Instead, they chose to play games. Public transit has proved to be a necessity, and if one doesn't believe so, try driving in and out of Philadelphia during rush hour. Our elected officials, who by and large do not use public transit, would rather vote themselves pay raises as their first order of business. Mayor Street's injunction against SEPTA's proposed service cuts and fare hikes just forestalled the inevitable, and I don't think the courts have the jurisdiction to legally stay a transit fare hike anyway, that's another debate in itself. Once again, I renew my argument that our elected officials, who have the best source of dedicated funding possible (our tax dollars), and have the option to raise, allocate, and misuse those tax dollars could have ended this situation before it began. I don't see any politicians contributing anything to their healthcare, or for that matter riding public transit, so of course they can afford to be patient in their decision making. And also remember that when the proposal came for employees and management to pay a percentage of their healthcare, it was SEPTA who balked. Doesn't sound like a company in dire straights to me. There's my rant, I apologize for the length.

All we're going to see in the near future, in the words of John Kerry is "More of the same"...delays by politicians and SEPTA management, the authority continuing to hobble along, no real improvement. We probablly have the oldest trains on the east coast now too.

My insult of the day was riding Silverliner II #281 in on the R7 today, with the lights out. No reason was given, we just rode all the way in, in the dark, kind of like our politicians and SEPTA management. Management wants to play the crying game, in hopes of more funding, politicians want to play the finger pointing game, and the circle goes on.

jfrey40535 wrote: My insult of the day was riding Silverliner II #281 in on the R7 today, with the lights out. No reason was given, we just rode all the way in, in the dark, kind of like our politicians and SEPTA management.

I wonder if they may be running bad-ordered cars for capacity. Hope the brakes worked....

I've always liked the dark silverliner IIs on the r7, helps me get some sleep after a long weekend in new york

I just told everyone this is SEPTA's new "Quiet Car" service. I felt bad for the people at N. Phila being teased like that though. I'm surprised an accident didn't happen there. We were in SL II's and III's, the doors were left open, traps closed though, and we went through N. Phila station at 2mph. Im really surprised people didn't try to get on. A African-American couple and their baby tried to get off, but when the engineer hit the gas they thought twice about it.

I can't believe we're still running aincient trains with manual doors and no PA system. The conductors couldn't walk the train because of the crowd, and they couldn't make a announcement that we were not stopping. I was next to the vestible and heard the "2 to go" as the train slowed along the platform.

The strike will end when the holiday shopping season rolls around after Thanksgiving.
By the way, the 8:50 R3 to Elwyn was cancelled last evening and ended at 30th street. The conductor would not even take off the Elwyn signs on the train or answer questions from riders. The next train at 9:30 PM was 20 minutes late. This is not good for people who have the option to drive to work.