PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — SEPTA Transit Police officers are on the picket line Thursday night after the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Union rejected SEPTA’s latest deal and members voted overwhelmingly to strike.
The strike has many riders concerned for their safety.
“They’re cold,” Troy Parham, the vice president of the FOTP, said. “They’re frustrated. They don’t think we should be out here, nor do I.”
With the strike, more than 170 officers were off the transit system. And while sides did return to the negotiating table, union officials said those talks didn’t go so well.
“This probably will be a long one,” Parham said. “Because we’re not gonna move on our position, and their position is they’re not moving, so I don’t know where we go from here.”
While the strike continues, SEPTA says it won’t go without a law enforcement presence. The authority says its supervisory officers, about 40 of them, will be out on patrol and it’s getting help from Philadelphia police and some area university departments.
LINK: https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/septa-police-strike-update-philadelphia/
