Commuters Hit By Philly Transit Strike

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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

From victory to inconvenience in Philadelphia. Commuters are scrambling due to a mass transit strike. It comes after a night when the Phillies kept their World Series hopes alive.

From member station WHYY in Philadelphia, Shai Ben-Yaacov reports.

SHAI BEN-YAACOV: Philadelphians who went to sleep early last night woke up to more than one surprise. The Phillies won Game 5 of the World Series, and the city's bus, subway and trolley operators were on strike.

Across the region, nurses who rely on mass transit tried frantically to get to hospitals. Those on night shifts were left stranded or caught taxis. And as the sun rose over William Penn's statue atop city hall, people buying their morning coffee debated a tough question: Do middle-income workers have a right to strike when that step harms other workers?

West Philadelphian Pat Depasquel(ph) woke up at 6 a.m. and walked from West Philadelphia to Center City to get to work. That's about six miles.

Mr. PAT DEPASQUEL: Yeah, my two sisters work downtown. They all came down with a hack cab. Hack cab drove them to here, then they're going to walk down to Center City.

BEN-YAACOV: The regional transit agency, known as SEPTA, carries 900,000 riders a day on its buses, subways and trolleys. Today also happens to be Election Day. It's an off-year election for Philadelphia, but voters are still choosing a new district attorney and state Supreme Court justice. Bill Englund(ph) comes to Center City, Philadelphia from Elkins Park, just north of the city, and is nervous about getting home in time.

Mr. BILL ENGLUND: You know, if I work my normal day till 5:30, 6 o'clock, I may find myself running to try to get to the polls, and that's a critically important thing today for me to get out and vote.

BEN-YAACOV: Denise Ripley(ph), a lifelong North Philadelphia resident, is angered that the strike will affect mostly lower-income residents. The city's commuter rail lines, which serve the Philadelphia suburbs, are still running. Their conductors have a separate contract.

Ms. DENISE RIPLEY: It's affecting urban communities. It's not affecting the people that live out there in the suburbs. They're going to get to work. They've got cars, even if - but it's not affecting them. It's affecting low-income, working people. That's why it's important to have SEPTA run. We cannot afford this to our community. It's not good.

BEN-YAACOV: Contract talks have been on and off since March. SEPTA officials say they've offered the union wage increases totaling 11.5 percent over five years. The union had been seeking a four-year deal with a four percent raise each year. Last week, union members gave leadership the go-ahead to call a strike.

Still, word over the weekend was that recent talks were constructive. So the overnight strike shocked many, including Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

Mayor MICHAEL NUTTER (Philadelphia): To decide at midnight or so to go out on strike at 3 a.m. is, I think, the height of insensitivity and disruption to people and their lives.

BEN-YAACOV: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, fearing a black eye for Philadelphia, asked the union not to strike until after the three World Series home games. Union leaders held to the letter of that agreement, waiting until 3 o'clock this morning to idle the city's transit. No talks were scheduled as of earlier this afternoon.

For NPR News, I'm Shai Ben-Yaacov in Philadelphia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.