Transport Workers Union Local 234 will not strike when their contract expires on Sunday morning.

Local 234 president Willie Brown said the union had not taken a strike-authorization vote. The TWU contract that is to expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday covers about 4,700 operators and mechanics in the City Transit Division, which operates the Broad Street Subway, the Market-Frankford Line, the subway-surface trolleys, and city bus routes.

Issues on the table include wages, benefits, and subcontracting issues. The TWU seeks 6 percent annual raises and a $25-per-month increase in pension payments for each year of service. SEPTA‘s offer is not public, but its proposed budget for next fiscal year assumes a 3 percent increase in labor costs and a nearly 8 percent increase in fringe benefits.

SEPTA bus, subway, and trolley operators earn from $14.54 to $24.24 per hour, reaching the top rate after four years. Mechanics earn $14.40 to $27.59 an hour.

Workers will stay on under the provisions of the current contract if it expires before a new agreement is reached. SEPTA has issued a statement saying it “remains committed to bargaining in good faith with the sincere hope that a new agreement can be reached.”

Three suburban SEPTA union contracts are set to expire early next month, so a strike postponement now by the TWU could set up a coordinated strike threat then. A strike by city and suburban transit unions would mean a suspension of service on all bus, trolley, and subway lines, similar to the 2005 strike that lasted for a week.

Additional Transportation Union Contracts Set to Expire Include:

4/1/09 United Transportation Union Local 1594, Suburban Transit Division, Victory District (340 vehicle operators on routes based at 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby)

4/1/09 TWU Local 234, Suburban Transit Division, Victory District (160 maintenance and clerical employees)
4/6/09 TWU Local 234, Suburban Transit Division, Frontier District (220 bus drivers in Montgomery and Bucks Counties)
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer