Strike - TWU - November 1st 2016

The photo on page A3 of the print edition shows the yard at 69th St. used by Market-Frankford trains. However, the extent of unoccupied track in the foreground suggests that it may be a stock photo; I assume both 69th St. and Frankford must be jam-packed right now. (Or did the WSJ catch the error in time for later editions? And "stop the presses" to substitute the photo I saw?)

Great Mr. Ex-Con that you also noted the photo. I don't "make stuff up" around these parts.

Any idea if UTU 1594 will strike also when their contract expires? I'm assuming they are watching this current situation very closely. If they did walk out that would be yet another inconvenience as with no MFL connection at 69th I am forced to take Regional Rail (will they ever run trains on time?), but if UTU walks out after TWU is back, I can take the MFL but will have no NHSL to connect to!

MichaelBug wrote:I would be more inclined to say that you may have seen a photo of either a SEPTA Kawasaki LRV or a SEPTA Regional Rail car. The news media here in Philadelphia often confuses the various types of SEPTA rolling stock in their stock photos & "B-roll" background video...

I wouldn't be surprised either. The P&W's especially confusing to the media because it doesn't fit neatly into any standard category. NBC10 frequently identifies it as part of the RRD, leavened by occasional nods to it being an extension of the El. Plus the Norristown paper has a 1960s-era stock pic of SL-IIs that gets pulled out whenever they want to illustrate a train story. </sigh>

Gilbert B Norman wrote:... many, many moons ago, I interviewed up at Ursinus College - and for that trip, I rode the P&W.

Being from an "Ursinus family" (four of us are graduates) at least one of us may have overlapped your visit. Back in those days you would have almost certainly taken a rattletrap Schuylkill Valley Lines "new look" bus for the connection between Norristown and Collegeville.

Only other experience was a 1968 joyride on the Electroliner.

I rode the 'Liners as many times as possible while commuting to grad school, often trying to time my trips so I caught one of the two afternoon limiteds. They were like a time-warp back to the 1940s and are much missed.

Mr. JeffK, I do remember the Collegeville bus circa 1960, and, I'm sure our "Busficiandos" around here could provide the exact nomenclature. To me, it was a GM as built immediately after The War.

But alas, even if accepted, a small Liberal Arts school was not going to get me the Undergraduate hours needed to even sit, let alone pass, the CPA exam, which is tough , but not impossible.

Finally, wasn't that bus P&W once upon a time and that their drivers remain represented by the P&W U2 Local? If so, good luck.

I remember joyriding a 93 bus to Pottstown in 1989 and seeing some yellow "new look Jimmy" "fishbowl" busses sharing the road with us. They had ads that stuck out of the side and looked like they were added as an afterthought, no doubt to increase revenue. At least one ad was for cigarettes.

It's been 56 years, but I think this looks familiar:

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rslitman wrote:I remember joyriding a 93 bus to Pottstown in 1989 and seeing some yellow "new look Jimmy" "fishbowl" busses sharing the road with us. They had ads that stuck out of the side and looked like they were added as an afterthought, no doubt to increase revenue. At least one ad was for cigarettes.

Those yellow buses would have been short (30-foot)1977 Flxible New Looks that belonged to Pottstown Urban Transit (now Pottstown Area Rapid Transit). PUT/PART had six of them (fleet #31-#36) & ran them until 1992. They were replaced by 35-foot TMC RTSes, which have themselves now been mostly replaced with 35-foot Gillig BRTs.

PART continues to operate service along High St. between Sanatoga & downtown Pottstown today. SEPTA's Route 93 is restricted to pickup only eastbound & drop-off only westbound over that part of the line where PART's route also operates, except on Sundays & other selected trips during times that PART is not operating.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Mr. JeffK, I do remember the Collegeville bus circa 1960, and, I'm sure our "Busficiandos" around here could provide the exact nomenclature. To me, it was a GM as built immediately after The War.

But alas, even if accepted, a small Liberal Arts school was not going to get me the Undergraduate hours needed to even sit, let alone pass, the CPA exam, which is tough , but not impossible.

Finally, wasn't that bus P&W once upon a time and that their drivers remain represented by the P&W U2 Local? If so, good luck.

For a time, Schuylkill Valley Lines was indeed also under the same ownership as P&W (this would have been years before P&W was merged into Red Arrow). The Collegeville route is now SEPTA's Route 93, operated by SEPTA's Frontier District. The Frontier operators are represented by TWU Local 234 - but under a separate contract than the SEPTA City Transit Division. Frontier's contract with TWU 234 is also up in November.

Ahem, TWU strike topic.

Relevant to understanding the TWU's history of millitancy:

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Much I think comes from that the TWU was once affiliated with the CIO, whose philosophy was to organize workers of all an employer's crafts. This is in contrast to the AFL who organized workers by craft over a multitude of employers.

Railroad workers have been traditionally organized along craft lines, or otherwise the AFL model.

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/1 ... nd-strike/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The transit agency notes in the lawsuit “that the strike has caused people to miss critical medical appointments; is making it impossible for some disabled residents to get to facilities for specialty care, get assistance with fundamental life-care matters and training critical to their efforts towards independence; is causing students to miss school; and presents a risk to citizens’ right to vote in the Nov. 8 election.”

The purpose of a strike is to disrupt and cause inconvenience, it forces both sides back to the table and to work to find an agreement that satisfies both sides, people who complain it's a disruption really need to understand that's is the point, how else will one side (septa in this case) ever have reason to negotiate?

1. Working conditions and pay in this case are probably lower than any other transit system in the northeast but they still have to deal with the same high cost of living.
2. The employees should not have to subsidize the fare box, it is probably time to raise the fares to help pay for a fair settlement.
3. The unions had better make sure the "t's are crossed and the i's dotted" before they sign any agreement. I remember one session that I was involved in many years ago the company leader said we all ought to be man enough to handshake on one issue and I held out for it to be in writing and it was a good thing that we got it.
Money might be the biggest problem but it is very important to seal anything in writing.
Noel Weaver

Noel Weaver wrote:... it is probably time to raise the fares to help pay for a fair settlement.

SEPTA has a schedule of incremental fare increases every three years. There was supposed to be an increase this past July but it was postponed due to the combined messes of trying to roll out the Key and repairing the SL-Vs. In any case SEPTA's current fares aren't out of line with comparable cities, plus there are "stealth" increases hidden in the Key over and above the planned general hike.