Steve Grant Brookens, 54, who grew up in a tough section of West Philly and in 1998 harnessed that toughness to lead SEPTA's largest union during a crippling 40-day strike - an action that years later contributed to his being forced out as president of the local by a federal judge - has died.
Mr. Brookens died Thursday at his Fern Rock home of complications from a kidney transplant, his family said. He had been on dialysis since August 2000, and in January underwent the transplant.
Born and raised near 38th Street and Haverford Avenue - the Bottom section of West Philadelphia - Mr. Brookens was one of the eight children of Anna and Herbert Brookens. Steve Grant Brookens said the family lived in "a tough neighborhood." He graduated from West Philadelphia High School in 1966, and for a while worked as a service-station attendant before beginning a 30-year career with SEPTA in 1973. He started out as a trolley driver out of the old Luzerne Depot.
He soon became involved in union politics, and in 1983 was elected secretary-treasurer of the Transport Workers Union Local 234. In 1990, he was voted executive vice president, and he became president of the 5,500-member local in 1996.
Two years later, Mr. Brookens proved himself to be a master of the sound bite. Dressed in scruffy clothes - usually a union T-shirt - Mr. Brookens became a regular on the nightly news as he led subway operators, bus drivers, mechanics and maintenance workers in SEPTA's City Division on a paralyzing strike from June 1 to July 10.
The strike - the second-longest public-transportation stoppage in Philadelphia history - came as tourists were arriving for summer vacations and as Philadelphia was trying to sell itself to Democrats and Republicans as a possible location for the 2000 national conventions.
When the Democratic National Committee's convention team arrived for a tour of the city a month after the strike began, TWU members marched through Center City and set up pickets. The DNC left town rather than be faced with having to cross a picket line. The tactic earned Mr. Brookens scorn from then-Mayor Ed Rendell and some labor leaders.
Following the strike, Mr. Brookens said he had purposely projected himself as a tough, hard-nosed foe.
