Governor Ed Rendell has left town and with him he takes nearly $7 Million dollars in funding to help the union get what it wants. The union got increasingly angry at SEPTA for rewriting the deal. At last check, TWU 234 wanted an independent audit of their pension and SEPTA wanted language in the contract so they could possibly work on health benefits if (or when) the public option is passed.
TWU 234 President "Little" Willie Brown stated during a press conference that any talk of an agreement "was a lie." No new talks are scheduled.
The 2005 SEPTA strike lasted 7 days. A 1998 SEPTA strike lasted 40 days.
Willie Brown, this one goes out to you:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--==--==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Today a protest was scheduled at 1234 Market Street for 1PM in front of SEPTA headquarters by someone on Twitter called simply "strikeprotest". I arrived at 12:45PM and saw one protester named Till Ayala, who had actually lost a job due to this strike. When I arrived, there were a bunch of cameras and reporters, far outnumbering the protestor. I arrived carrying a sign that read, "I'm not Anti-Union, I'm Anti-Willie Brown." I spoke to reporters and was asked if I was the organizer and replied, "No, but I saw this on Twitter and wanted to put my money where my mouth is."
Shortly after most of the media left, 3 people came over to support us and hold balloons with slogans to help the cause of the protest: To show that the people of the city were being hurt most by this strike.
No comments:
Post a Comment