SEPTA workers reach contract agreement days before deadline

By CLAUDIA LAUER
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Members of Philadelphia’s largest transit workers union reached a tentative contract agreement. The agreement has averted a possible strike that threatened to bring elevated trains, buses and trolleys to a halt and leave thousands of children and educators without a way to get to school next week. The current contract between the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the 5,000-member Transport Workers Union Local 234 was set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 1. The agreement announced by the union early Friday includes a two-year contract with a pay increase, a pandemic payment of up to $2,200 and parental leave for workers.