By Doug Cunningham
President Obama’s intervention in the Philadelphia rail strike put striking workers back to work Sunday, creating a presidential emergency board to resolve the labor dispute. Obama’s action came at the request of Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett.
The strike started Saturday as 430 workers, including engineers and electrical workers, hit the picket lines. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local 744 President Terry Gallagher says after five years without a labor agreement, Obama’s intervention is what his union was waiting for. Arthur Davidson is General Chairman of the IBEW.
[Arthur Davidson]: “We agreed to binding arbitration, which would have resolved it in no strike whatsoever but SEPTA refused too accept that.”
The Philadelphia SEPTA strike was the first in 31 years. Pensions and wages are the main issues. The striking workers are covered under the Railway Labor Act, which sets up special requirements for handling labor disputes. The workers are ordered back to work and barred from striking saga in for 240 days while a mediation process plays out. Stephen Bruno, Vice-President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, says his members will return to work upon receipt of the Obama’s executive order. Bruno wants to see an additional raise of three percent for his members to make up for pension enhancements given to other SEPTA workers back in 2009.
Leave a Reply