Three days after going on strike, the union for Philadelphia’s transit police officers returned to work Saturday afternoon after reaching a tentative contract agreement with SEPTA that was brokered in part by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
SEPTA said it expected to have a full complement on duty for the 11 p.m. shift.
The deal needs to be ratified by the roughly 170 members of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 and by the SEPTA board, which could vote on it as soon as Thursday.
The agreement comes amid heightened fears bout safety on public transit and a funding crisis for SEPTA, which projects it will face a devastating budget deficit next year.
Tension in the contract dispute had ratcheted up over the last several days, and on Friday an agreement seemed further away than it had been just before the patrol officers walked off the job Wednesday night.
Both sides agreed that Shapiro’s intervention helped end the standoff, with SEPTA CEO Leslie S. Richards crediting the governor with “playing a key role bringing people together to forge this agreement.”
