SEPTA on strike but don't blame the strikers!

My boyfriend Scott works for SEPTA, the transit system for the city of Philadelphia and environs. He's a union member. The trains, known as regional rail, are still running b/c they're under Federal guidelines put in by the Truman administration.They're not allowed to strike.

We kissed goodbye this morning knowing we wouldn't see one another until Nov. 14, and then I began packing for my trip. I leave from JFK at 6:55 tonite. Dave's Best Limo will drive me there.

I'm upstairs trying on shorts and I hear Scott call: Hi, I'm home. SEPTA must've gone on strike. Here's the Times story.

Well, I said, at least they waited until the Phillies games were over.

But they didn't, he said. They struck at 3 a.m. SEPTA was just stalling until the World Series was over.

SEPTA, as insiders know, has notoriously poor management. It's a wonder the trains run at all. Union members like Scott have a lot to lose by striking, but also a lot to gain. On strike, they receive no pay and lose their health benefits. Most members are married and have families.

"If we don't strike," says Scott, "we'd be making crappy wages with no benefits if we didn't strike for our rights. This contract is about our underfunded pension and subcontracting. Subcontracting refers to an outside agency doing SEPTA's work which does not save money. It's a ploy."

Why then was management giving the impression that negotiations were in full force? The Philadelphia Inquirer indicated that a solution was being forged in the Philly office of Gov. Rendell.

I laughed when I read this. "You never get the truth from a newspaper," said Scott.

"Every strike is to make union members look like the bad guys," said Scott. "It makes us look like greedy MF'rs willing to strike at the drop of a hat."

Scott will drive into town today to do his strike duty. We certainly hope the strike is settled soon. They've been working w/o a contract since March. This is how management works, taking it down to the wire.

Of course there's two sides to every story. As a journalist I know that.