"Last week it was this side," said harried would-be passenger Eric Von
Sims, 22, gesturing toward Philadelphia, where city buses were halted last month by a city transit division strike.
"This week, it's the other side," Von Sims, a driver for a Drexel Hill medical-supply firm, said as he waited at the 69th Street Terminal for a ride
from his bosses. "That's a lot of trouble. They have plans, like I have
plans, too."
On wages, the two sides were 95 cents an hour apart. On pensions, they were separated by a decade, with the union wanting at least 50 percent pension eligibility after 10 years and SEPTA offering only full eligibility after 20 years.
No new talks in the dispute had been scheduled.
Although SEPTA settled a strike with its city transit division workers after four days last month, Red Arrow workers yesterday glumly predicted a lengthier walkout this time around.
"Neither side is giving in," said one man on the 69th Street Terminal picket line who would identify himself only as Joe. "It might be a long time."
And Local 1594 vice president Richard J. Lechette, referring to the UTU's 46-day strike in 1981, said, "We could survive 46 days, we can survive this."
Local 1594 president Charles Brusstar said yesterday that Red Arrow workers were trying to narrow the gap between their pay and benefits and those in SEPTA's city transit division.
City transit workers earn 48 cents more per hour than Red Arrow workers and have always had a better pension package, which was significantly improved in the new contract.
The top wage for drivers on the Red Arrow division is $10.69 an hour, SEPTA spokesman Joaquin Bowman said.
