SEPTA strike

The six-day stoppage of mass transit in Philadelphia is over, as SEPTA and the state reach an agreement with the leadership of the Transit Workers Union Local 234.

Political Scientist Michael Parenti catalogued seven generalizations about the way the news media create anti-union messaging--from painting workers as greedy, to omitting the salary of management or depicting public officials (like Mayor Nutter) as neutral. Using this lens to dissect the coverage of the SEPTA strike, it becomes clear that local media like the Inquirer and Daily News have a dangerous anti-union bias, once again making the case that to build our own movement we need our own media.

Yesterday, several representatives from the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance, Philadelphia Student Union, Philadelphia Joint Board/Workers United, Casino-Free Philadelphia, and the Media Mobilizing Project visited SEPTA workers, who have gone on strike to demand a fair contract. To show support and solidarity, we visited several picket locations across the city, including 58th and Vine, 69th and Market, Bridge and Pratt, and 49th and Woodland, and spoke with members of TWU Local 234 to get the real story.

The mainstream press across Philadelphia is turning commuters against transit workers. Instead of practicing journalism and explaining to the public why transit workers have gone on strike, they have instead given a platform to one side of the contract negotiations and helped the Mayor pit working people across the city against the drivers and engineers who get us to work everyday.

So, there's a SEPTA strike. Yes, it's inconvenient for a lot of people, me included. So what's everyone's response? Some version of "I hate SEPTA" or "I hate the workers" or something like that.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) quietly attempted to develop a contingency plan to support SEPTA in case of a strike of transit workers in TWU Local 234. Because the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania (TWA) is a strong unified voice in support of workers, PPA and SEPTA knew they had to turn to cab drivers outside Philadelphia county to develop their plan.