November 1, 2005                                                                                                                                      NY Times

400,000 Hit by Philadelphia Transit Strike

By SPENCER WILLIG
and JAMES DAO

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 31 - By foot and on bicycle, in cramped car pools and crowded commuter trains, nearly 400,000 people who rely on Philadelphia's mass transit system struggled to work and school on Monday after transit workers went on strike, mainly over soaring costs of health care.

On the first day of the strike by more than 5,000 union workers, city officials said car and bicycle traffic was heavier than usual, schools reported that student attendance was down significantly and downtown store owners complained that business was off just as they were preparing for the holiday rush.

"Center City is dead," said Bob Coleman, owner of Office Cents, an office supply store at 15th and Chestnut Streets. "I think a lot of people just didn't bother to come in."

The strike came after contract negotiations broke down Sunday night over demands by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority that union workers pay a part of their health care costs. The union workers currently contribute nothing toward the cost of health insurance.

The authority said it expected the cost of health care to increase by 18 percent in the coming year, and it has proposed that union workers pay 5 percent of their premiums, roughly $3 to $12 a month, an authority spokesman said.

"As anybody in the United States is aware, the skyrocketing costs of health care are at crisis proportions," said Richard Maloney, a transportation authority spokesman. "The union has been very reluctant to pay any of that."

But union officials said transit workers had accepted lower pay over the years in exchange for better benefits. They have offered a counterproposal that would require union workers to pay a smaller part of their health care costs and higher-paid management workers to pay significantly more for health care. The authority says the union proposal does not reduce its costs enough.

"We will not pay twice for health care," said Robert Bedard, a spokesman for the striking Transport Workers Union Local 234. The United Transportation Union Local 1594 also went out on strike.

The two sides could not reach agreement on wage increases and work rules, though the differences on those issues were not as great. No new talks were scheduled as of Monday night.

The last transit strike in Philadelphia, in 1998, lasted 40 days.

The transportation authority runs two subway lines, 110 buses routes and trolley lines in five counties that carry more than 400,000 passengers daily. All were shut down on Monday. The system's regional commuter rail system, which carries more than 100,000 passengers a day, remained in operation.

Those commuter trains were packed on Monday with bus and subway riders. At the beginning of the evening rush hour, hundreds of people waiting for commuter trains at a station at 11th and Market Streets.

Beverly Johnson, who normally takes the bus from her home in North Philadelphia to her job in the radiology section of Jefferson University Hospital, said she was worried about the long walk she would have every night to the commuter rail station.

"You can get mugged, you can get robbed, you can get raped," Ms. Johnson said.

Joe Sherry, who was waiting on the same line, said he lived at a half-way house for ex-convicts in suburban Philadelphia and was worried that because of the long line, he would be late for a 5 p.m. curfew.

"This is the sort of thing you'd expect to see in New Orleans," Mr. Sherry said. "Give me a license and a bus and I'll pay 5 percent for health insurance."

Paul Vallas, the chief executive officer of the Philadelphia School District, said attendance was down by as much as 30 percent at some high schools, where students rely heavily on mass transit. If the strike continues into next week, the district will consider expanding bus or van service to middle school and high school students, Mr. Vallas said. The district already provides bus service to elementary students.

City officials said they thought that extra preparations by companies to provide vans or car pools had helped ease the commute on the strike's first day. But they raised concerns about whether those measures would last if the strike wore on.

Many officials also said they were worried about the toll an extended strike would have on the poor and the elderly who depend on mass transit to get to work, pick up children, shop and visit doctors. By some estimates, one in three Philadelphia households lacks a vehicle.

The strike also comes against the backdrop of annual disputes in the state capital over transit financing. For years, the legislature and Gov. Edward G. Rendell have been unable to agree on a dedicated source of transit financing, and state aid to mass transit has remained relatively level.

Mr. Rendell, a Democrat, averted service cuts and a fare increase earlier this year in Philadelphia by using more than $400 million in federal highway money for the city's buses and subways. But that money will run out at the end of next year.

Spencer Willig reported from Philadelphia for this article, and James Dao from Washington.