News
TWU Local 234, SEPTA, Community Work to Prevent Violence in Public Transit
Posted May 2013
TWU Local 234 held a groundbreaking conference last week as part of their ongoing campaign to stop violence on public transit. The April 25 event brought together almost 200 agency and union leaders, top law enforcement, elected officials, community activists and transit workers. The day kicked off with harrowing videos and testimony by bus operator victims of assault, ranging from spitting through sexual touching to brutal force. One repeated beating left the operator with a broken nose and gratefully unable to remember what happened, even after viewing the attack on the bus security camera tape. (His assailant will be in jail for only 16 months).
SEPTA GM Joe Casey, Local 234 President John Johnson and others described significant recent changes. Because 75% of assaults are related to fare conflicts, SEPTA has eliminated the rule that operators ask for the address of fare evaders. Now they are only expected to state the fare requirement and push a fare evasion code on the fare box; operations staff can then easily check security camera tapes to identify fare evaders and monitor the extent of fare evasion. The agency’s goal is to install cameras in all buses.
The Law Enforcement Panel, including the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, his Deputy and the SEPTA Chief of Police, described how the spike in assaults in 2011 and 2012 demanded a new approach to stem assaults on bus operators and riders. The Philadelphia District Attorney discussed what has been done to reduce assaults and what else can help. Increased police checks and plainclothes presence are providing both visible and forceful deterrents to crime, and the panel explained how evidence will be used to respond to crime and to prosecute assailants. Agency and city police will attend depot meetings, and SEPTA managers were encouraged to establish a working relationship with the city’s police service area lieutenants.
The Legislation Panel of Pennsylvania Senators and Representatives delivered an update on legislation to designate transit workers as a protected job classification. The elected officials provided guidance on what the local union needs to do throughout the state to win support to pass the bill, including actively lobbying legislators, reaching out to transit systems and transit unions and creating a strong community coalition advocating for increased transit funding and resources to improve safety on transit.
The Union and Community Voices Panel emphasized that SEPTA riders and TWU members all lose when violence erupts on public transit. The panelists explored how unions and the community can work together to improve safety, ending the conference with strong support community organizations and from union leaders whose members ride SEPTA.
TWU Local 234 is committed to building coalitions to address violence on public transit. The conference was a milestone in their proactive campaign based on alliances in the labor community and in the neighborhoods. It also supported the work of the joint ATU/TWU international union safety committee on preventing assaults and improving other working conditions. The Transportation Learning Center’s Senior Program Director for Health and Safety Robin Gillespie coordinates the joint safety committee activity along with Dave Newman from NYCOSH. Dr. Gillespie reports that Local 234 is now in a strong position to collect data showing whether the changes have had an impact and where gaps in protection continue.
