SEPTA strike leaves riders furious
By Alex Lloyd Gross
Effective midnight November 1 2016 all city buses and subway trains ground to a halt as the union for transport workers authorized their membership to go on strike. That means hundreds of thousands of people must find a different way to get to work. Not too many are happy about it. The sticking points during the negotiations are scheduling for drivers. The union wants a longer turn around time between and management wants a shorter one. Of course money and health insurance are up their with their concerns too.
Here is a clue. The riding public does not care about the drivers concerns. They call the union pig headed and selfish. When you don’t make a lot of money and the only way you have to get to work is shut down, you really do not care about someone else’s union concerns when their strike is screwing you so they can make more cash. A taxi or even Uber will cost more than you make in a day when you figure in round trip.
Some colleges like Drexel and University of Pennsylvania have a shuttle that workers can take. However, if that shuttle does not stop near where they live, it’s useless. On various social media posts, people have voices their exasperation with the SEPTA strike, calling the union names that are not able to be printed here. Suffice it to say they are not amused. Philadelphia school students that use SEPTA are also left out in the lurch.
Riders are hoping that mayor Kenney or even the governor will force the union back to the bargaining table to back to work.. The strike can impact some voters on election day.