SEPTA’s Transit Police union authorizes strike

Members of the union that represents SEPTA police officers voted to authorize their leadership to call a strike against the transit agency after six months of negotiations with no progress toward a new contract.

The vote on Friday was nearly unanimous, said Omari Bervine, a patrol officer who is president of the 175-member Fraternal Order of Transit Police, Lodge 109. Union officials called in a mediator last month.

“We have met with multiple times with the mediator but this has not had any effect on the state of our talks thus far,” Bervine said. “We seem to be at an impasse.”

In addition to the contract with SEPTA police, the transit agency is currently negotiating with two other unions and other contracts are set to expire later this year and early in 2024. The agency projects a $240 million annual deficit beginning next year as the last of federal pandemic aid for transit systems is spent.

Transport Workers Union Local 234, SEPTA’s largest, voted to authorize a strike Oct. 1. The local represents about 5,000 members, including operators of buses, trolleys and the Broad Street and Market-Frankford Lines, along with mechanics and other workers. Its contract is set to expire at midnight Oct. 31.

A strike-authorization vote doesn’t automatically mean that transit police or transit operators will walk off the job. But with the members’ support behind them, union leaders are empowered to call a strike at its discretion.

Union members say that they have financial concerns, too and note some SEPTA salaries are lower than those at comparable public agencies and in private industry.

“SEPTA is committed to continuing a dialogue with the mediator and FOTP leadership to reach an agreement on a new contract,” agency spokesperson Andrew Busch said.

Unlike police in Philadelphia and other municipal departments, transit police don’t have access to binding arbitration to force a deal. Mediators can only make recommendations to both sides.

SEPTA last year agreed to raise starting pay for transit police officers by 25% and to shorten the amount of time it takes to reach the top pay rate.

A police academy class of 20 officers hired under the new terms — negotiated as an amendment to the current contract — graduated this spring and are on the job.

While welcome, those changes “brought us up to being only slightly behind other departments” in pay, Bervine said. “We are severely understaffed due to our inability to retain our officers, who are leaving for better paying jobs with Philly PD, Temple, Amtrak.”

The union is also concerned about conditions in headquarters and old vehicles that often out of service for repair as well as not having a state disability benefit for officers that Bervine said most departments offer.