Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
SEPTA’s close to 180 police officers have hit the picket lines.
Around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Fraternal Order of Transit Police FOP Lodge 109 notified SEPTA they they were immediately going on strike after contract talks with the regional transit agency had broken down.
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SEPTA said 49 transit police supervisors will remain on duty and work 12-hour shifts to keep around the clock responses. In addition, Philadelphia and suburban police departments will step up their patrols.
In Lower Bucks County, suburban departments regularly patrol area SEPTA stations along with the agency’s in-house police department.
The officers’ union said its members are underpaid and there is a pay disparity between law enforcement and management. It also claimed the department is understaffed.
“SEPTA has been negotiating with the FOTP in hopes of reaching a fair and equitable contract agreement. We urge the FOTP to return to the bargaining table so a resolution can be reached,” a statement from the transit agency said.
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The president of the transit police union, Omari Bervine told KYW Newsradio that 50 officers have left over the past years for better paying jobs.
