SEPTA union leader says Nutter not helpful

As the region’s drivers struggle through another evening rush hour without SEPTA, the president of SEPTA’s largest union says Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter should stay out of future talks.

As the region’s drivers struggle through another evening rush hour without SEPTA, the president of SEPTA’s largest union says Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter should stay out of future talks.

Listen:
[audio: 091104spstrike.mp3]

Willie Brown is President of the Transit Workers Union. He says Mayor Nutter’s role in the talks has not been helpful.

Brown: Little Caesar as I like to call him stood up in front of everybody and told the riding public that a strike was off the table. What he did was he hogged the microphone. You never heard me say, or Governor Rendell say that a strike was off the table.

Brown says he plans to speak with Governor Rendell on Thursday, but he says he’s not talking to Mayor Nutter.

Nutter: These negotiations should continue to go forward, if its helpful for me to be there I will be there if not, I actually have a full-time job and other things to attend to.

The strike took riders by surprise after officials said the union agreed not to walk out during the World Series. Union officials say workers walked off the job because the wage increase offered by Septa would have been erased by contributions workers would need to make into their pension plan.