Wednesday, December 17, 2008:

My name is Willie Brown and I am the President of TWU Local 234 and I am joined here today by Brian Pollitt, Executive Vice President, Joe Coccio, our Secretary-Treasurer and the elected officers of Local 234.

Today we formally presented our contract proposals for the contract that expires in March, 2009 to the SEPTA contract bargaining team.

As a result of spiraling gas prices earlier this year, combined with the deepening recession facing our national economy, more and more people are turning to public transit to meet their transportation needs.

Even though gas prices have fallen recently, it is a well known fact that SEPTA's ridership is up significantly and the riding public shows little sign of wanting to take a chance on going back to driving to work.

It is clear that we are entering negotiations with SEPTA at a time when the Authority is positioned to expand and improve service to the riding public.

I am here today to announce that our coming contract negotiations will be primarily focused on forging a new, more cooperative, relationship with SEPTA; one that gives the members of Local 234 -- the people who move Philadelphia and this region -- the respect and dignity they deserve.

In order to improve service levels for the riding public and work more cooperatively with our Union, SEPTA needs to change its longstanding management culture in contract negotiations with our Union.

They need to move away from the tired old confrontational tactics of past talks and instead adopt a more cooperative approach that enables both SEPTA and our Union to achieve common goals.

It is clear that SEPTA has an opportunity, with the state of the economy and the resulting increase in ridership, to improve the level of service to the riding public. TWU Local 234 wants to help that process.

We are looking for a true partnership, not window dressing.

In order to achieve that goal, SEPTA must recognize that our Local 234 members and the ridership of the system are the two constants in the service equation.

That recognition starts with an understanding by SEPTA management of the connection between our members and the ridership.

Our Local 234 members are the one consistent face the riding public sees at SEPTA.

It would be in everybody's best interest for SEPTA management to change from the old confrontational style they have had for years and, instead, reach out in a more cooperative way to work with our Union to improve service.

SEPTA managers come and go, but we have many TWU Local 234 members who have been delivering excellent service to the riding public for 30 years or more.

Our members run the transit system, so they know how to make it more efficient. SEPTA would better service the riding public if they engaged Local 234 members in a cooperative effort to improve service instead of looking at us as the enemy.

That is why we are looking forward to these negotiations as a way to challenge SEPTA to go in a new direction -- one that will benefit the Authority, our Union's members and the ridership we all seek to serve.

The economics of the contract negotiations are what they are. We will be making our case for wage and benefit improvements that we believe are justified by the excellent service our members deliver to the riding public.

We know we are in for a tough fight to win a fair contract. Our members are fully prepared to go on strike, if we have to, in order to get the good contract we deserve and that we have earned.

Just as important as our monetary proposals is our goal of having SEPTA deliver the dignity and respect our members deserve and have earned.

In the end, it doesn't cost SEPTA anything to treat our members and the ridership with dignity and respect.

During these negotiations we will also address some of the expensive sub-contracts, including maintenance and repair work on SEPTA vehicles, that our Local 234 members could have done right in the first place and at far less expense.

We believe that the reason for these ongoing management mistakes has more to do with the revolving door of turnover at the management level than it does with the performance of Local 234 members.

In fact, top management turnover far exceeds the turnover rates for our Union's members and the result is the constantly changing priorities that every new wave of management tries to impose that too often cause even more waste and inefficiency.

Our members run the transit system, so they know how to make it more efficient. SEPTA would be able to better serve the riding public if they engaged Local 234 members in a cooperative effort to improve service instead of looking at us as the enemy.

We want to help SEPTA through the collective bargaining process and the negotiations for the next contract because we believe it benefits our members and the riding public if the Authority is operating at a higher level of efficiency.

That is all the more reason why we need to settle this contract and get about the business of making SEPTA the best transit authority in the world.

We hope that SEPTA will join us in that effort.

SOURCE Transport Workers Union Local 234