Workers set up picket lines at barns, depots, and major transit terminals throughout the metropolitan area after contract negotiations broke down October 31. SEPTA serves more than 400,000 riders in the country’s fifth-largest city.

The central issue in the strike was management’s demand that union members pay 5 percent of health-care premiums, with future hires paying 10 percent. Under previous contracts, workers have given up wage increases and made other concessions to stick to no premium payments.

Union members with more than 27 months employment paid no health-care premiums in the last contract. New workers received no medical coverage for three months. After that, they paid 30 percent of the premium for the first year and 20 percent for the next.

The new agreement stipulates that all union members pay 1 percent of their wages toward health-care premiums. The pact also provides for a 3 percent annual wage increase over the four-year contract.

During a November 4 rally of 300 unionists and their supporters, many sported “Health care for everyone” T-shirts produced by the TWU. “Our fight is a fight for everybody,” TWU Local 234 president Jeffrey Brooks told the crowd. “The whole labor movement is watching.”

“Every person deserves health care but the average person can’t afford it,” George Hamilton, a driver for seven years, told the Militant. “The strike is important because we’re sick of giving back.”

Janet Post and Bob Stanton contributed to this article.  
 
 
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