To Penn Faculty and Staff

A possible strike by SEPTA workers has been announced. SEPTA’s City Transit Division Union has voted to authorize a strike in the event an agreement is not reached by SEPTA and union employees. A work stoppage can occur at any time upon the expiration of the agreement on Monday, October 31, 2016.

If the City Transit Division of SEPTA (bus, trolley, Market-Frankford Line, Broad Street Subway services) goes on strike, the University’s contingency plan for campus transportation and parking services will be implemented.

In the event a strike is called, the contingency plan posted on the Penn Transit website (http://www.upenn.edu/PennTransit) will go into effect.

Transportation services operated by Penn during a public transit strike are intended to aid employees with their commute to and from work but are in no way envisioned as a direct replacement for SEPTA services. Employees should plan alternative means of transportation if the services provided by the University’s contingency plans are not convenient for your use. Administrators are encouraged to be as flexible as possible with requests to temporarily adjust work schedules while continuing to meet operational requirements. Penn offers flexible work-option guidelines to help staff and supervisors determine how to propose and consider flexible work schedules, including earlier or later arrival and departure times, working from home, or compressed schedules that involve longer, but fewer, days at work. Visit the Flexible Work Options webpage to learn more.

We strongly encourage faculty and staff to closely monitor local news for updates regarding negotiations between the parties and to visit www.septa.org for the latest information. Also, watch www.upenn.edu/PennTransit for any updates to the contingency plans, as appropriate.

—Marie D. Witt; Vice President, Business Services
—Maureen Rush; Vice President, Public Safety
—Jack Heuer; Vice President, Human Resources