https://www.inquirer.com/transportation ... 31023.html
Unions representing both Regional Rail locomotive engineers and conductors said Monday that they are holding strike votes after months of mediated talks with SEPTA have failed to produce progress toward agreements.
The national presidents of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the SMART-Transportation Division, which represents the conductors, authorized the votes together, sending a message of solidarity as negotiations heat up with several of the transportation authority’s unions.
The unions said they would jointly announce the results of the balloting on Nov. 20, in part because BLET’s bylaws require voting to be conducted by mail.
Engineers and conductors have not received raises in about four years, and their hourly wages already are the lowest among commuter rail systems nationally, union officials say. Engineers and conductors have been leaving to take better-paying jobs with other rail systems in the region — Hall, of the BLET, said there are 159 locomotive engineers on staff, compared to an authorized strength of 230.
