SEPTA is, for better or worse, a part of most of our city-dwelling lives. We still remember the headache that was the 2005 transit workers strike, and we just had to negotiate with the El; folks who depended on the buses were especially and exquisitely screwed. So although the union is different this time and the bosses are promising no disruption in service, the threat of a SEPTA strike this week has us a wee bit tweaked.

This time it’s the transit police, and their main beef is over (of course) cash. Specifically they want to be paid the same as officers in the Philadelphia Police Department. Now, we don’t know about your commutes, but on a good day the guy who talks to himself sits quietly and only rocks slightly, and the guy hawking DVDs doesn’t block the way to the door insisting on making a sale. In our limited experience, when shit really goes down on or around SEPTA, it Goes Down. So it surprises us that the officers charged with patrolling our sprawling transport system are not being paid the same as officers of the PPD; the dangers are the same, and they probably have just as good stories to share at the DD.

So really, we suppose the question becomes: What’s it mean for us? Or more directly, is this scary? Police union leaders are urging folks to avoid SEPTA; "Your safety is in jeopardy," said Edward Kaiser, a union vice president. "We don't want to see anyone injured." Where we come from, when union bosses strongly urge you to do or not do something, particularly when they don’t want anyone to get hurt, it’s usually a good idea to listen to them. SEPTA promises they have it under control, and that if it does come down to a strike they have a plan already in place to protect their riders. But the horrors of those random attacks this spring still cling to the memory, and it does beggar belief that they could find as large and well-trained a force as they have now to pick up the slack for a few days. Crime on the transit system went way down after the creation of the police force; what might happen if they’re gone?

Image Credit: Flickr user cw3283