[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 9, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2311-E2312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATIONS TO GOVERNOR ED RENDELL AND CONGRESSMAN BOB BRADY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN P. MURTHA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 9, 2005

  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Governor Ed Rendell and 
Congressman Bob Brady of Pennsylvania for their key roles in 
facilitating successful contract negotiations between the Southeastern 
Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and the labor union.
  The following article, ``The Pair Who Powered the SEPTA Deal,'' 
illustrates Governor Rendell's and Congressman Brady's skillful and 
active leadership in resolving the issues between the parties. They saw 
a large problem facing the region and without hesitation waded in, 
rolled up their sleeves, and brought everyone together. I believe their 
hands-on approach and the confidence that both sides placed in their 
ability to handle the issues fairly serves as an excellent reminder of 
the kind of dedicated public service everyone looks for in their 
elected leaders.

             [From the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 8, 2005]

                  The Pair Who Powered the SEPTA Deal

                   (By Larry King and Marcia Gelbart)

       At 3:45 a.m. yesterday, he paced alone on an empty, 
     shadowed sidewalk at Broad and Walnut Streets.
       He was not part of the SEPTA contract negotiations taking 
     place above him on the 11th floor of the Bellevue in Center 
     City. But like an anxious mother hen, neither was he ever far 
     from them.
       A passerby recognized the barrel-chested figure in the 
     dark-blue warm-up suit, a thatch of gray curls atop his head.
       Congressman Brady?

[[Page E2312]]

       ``Yeah, how you doin'?'' came the familiar gruff voice.
       Any news? ``They're done.''
       Done? When? ``About 10 minutes ago.''
       Two hours passed before Gov. Rendell emerged with union and 
     SEPTA leaders to announce the deal that ended the region's 
     transit strike. Together, the governor and U.S. Rep. Robert 
     A. Brady (D., Phila.) were called prime catalysts in events 
     leading to the proposed settlement.
       The duo worked like this: Rendell relied on his power over 
     the state-created agency, and Brady relied on his patience to 
     deal with the personalities of its managers and union 
     leaders.
       As for other officials, State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D., 
     Phila.) was around but talking mostly through the ear of 
     Brady. House Speaker John M. Perzel (R., Phila.) was set to 
     jump in today, at a scheduled meeting at the Holiday Inn City 
     Line, with SEPTA board chairman Pasquale T. ``Pat'' Dean.
       And Mayor Street played a low-key role. He met with union 
     leaders for five hours on Friday, phoned Deon later that day, 
     and then made at least two calls to the governor late Sunday.
       While Street was limited by strained ties with Harrisburg 
     lawmakers, Rendell had ``no choice'' but to wade in, said J. 
     Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of 
     the NAACP.
       Rendell ``could not have an election campaign gearing up 
     after the holidays, and a bitter public-transit strike in his 
     backyard,'' he said.
       And Brady, Mondesire said, was ``a natural bridge . . . . 
     He talks a straight workingman's kind of language . . . and 
     because he has political connections, the SEPTA people listen 
     to him.''
       All involved with the negotiations said Brady--a labor 
     leader from the carpenters' union and a peacemaker with a 
     long record of settling feuds as a longtime head of the 
     city's Democratic Party--cajoled them to talk, to keep 
     talking, to talk until their minds could meet.
       Brady ``was very instrumental in this,'' said Jeffrey 
     Brooks, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234.
       Brady, of course, demurred--just as he did seven years ago 
     at the end of the last SEPTA strike when he stood three rows 
     deep at a news conference to announce a deal he helped 
     broker to end that 40-day walkout.
       ``I just keep 'em talking, that's all,'' he said in 
     yesterday's early hours. ``They didn't talk for what--two, 
     three days? This morning I met with the governor and Jeff at 
     8. They agreed to try and kick-start this thing back again. I 
     told them, `If you do, please don't stop until it's over. 
     It's got to be done sooner or later, so why not do it sooner 
     instead of later?' ''
       Brady was the first politician to visibly inject himself 
     into the negotiations, turning up late Tuesday as the 
     contract negotiations briefly resumed at the Crowne Plaza 
     hotel.
       Rendell, meanwhile, was the hands-on deal maker. He spoke 
     out first from Harrisburg on Thursday, warning both sides 
     that the strike was ``killing'' chances of getting the 
     dedicated source of state funding that the perennially 
     strapped SEPTA so sorely needs,
       And once in town, he said, he made a point of sitting down 
     with Brooks and assuring him that SEPTA's pot of money for 
     crafting a deal was finite--that it was all a matter of 
     slicing it fairly.
       That was the point made at a noon meeting on Sunday, where 
     Brooks made his case to 50 or so mostly elected officials 
     whom Brady assembled at the Democratic City Committee 
     headquarters.
       ``That's one thing we made clear to both sides,'' Rendell 
     said. ``If the strike goes on too much longer, or if the 
     settlement is not seen as affordable, then that seriously 
     decreases our chances of getting dedicated funding.''
       City Councilman Michael A. Nutter said, ``That meeting was 
     certainly a part of what led to the contract.''
       All week long, Brady had been calling Brooks two or three 
     times a day. Now, in what would be the final moments, Rendell 
     and his staff stuck side by side with SEPTA's chief labor 
     negotiator, Patrick Battel, from ``basically 9 a.m. Sunday 
     until we signed the memorandum of agreement at 5:30 a.m.,'' 
     according to Battel. The governor, he said, ``is a skilled 
     mediator and a skilled politician.''
       To be sure, there were other factors.
       ``Looming in people's minds was the 40-day strike,'' said 
     State Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.). ``People knew they 
     could not afford to do that.''
       There was also, he said, the uncertain fate of SEPTA's 
     financial future.
       ``Rendell's message was `there is not going to be any new 
     money,' and that is the same message Perzel and I were 
     putting together as legislative leaders,'' Evans said.
       As it turned out, that message was no longer needed.

                          ____________________