BLET members vote to authorize strike at SEPTA

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced yesterday that its members who operate Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s (SEPTA) Regional Rail commuter trains have voted to grant BLET National President Eddie Hall the authority to issue a strike.

On Oct. 23, the union reported that voting by mail to authorize a strike had been approved and ballots would need to be received at the union’s national office by noon yesterday. Results of that vote count show that of engineers eligible to cast ballots, all voted to strike, BLET officials said in a press release.

Union officials say that issues leading to the vote include concerns over low pay; SEPTA engineers and trainmen are the lowest paid in the industry.

"With the new contract on commuter lines in the Northeast, a newly promoted engineer on SEPTA is paid approximately 58% per hour less than his or her counterparts," said BLET Vice President James Louis in a press release.

SEPTA’s locomotive engineers have not received a raise since 2019. Many SEPTA engineers have recently left SEPTA for better-paying jobs at Amtrak or elsewhere, according to the BLET.

BLET officials also have voiced concern about what they say is under-staffing at the agency. SEPTA employs 177 engineers, but BLET says it should employ 230.

"We will use every lawful tool to reach a contract settlement," Hall said in the release. "I've said it before and I will say it again, going without a new agreement during a period of high inflation is not acceptable. The number of years required for a SEPTA engineer to reach the top of the pay scale is too steep. Meanwhile, the number of engineers employed by SEPTA is far too few to meet the needs of passengers. This is no way to run a commuter railroad."