Commuters in the City of Brotherly Love have been told to gear up to begin a second week of finding other ways to work following the collapse of a proposed deal to end a six-day-old strike by about 5,000 bus drivers, subway and trolley conductors and mechanics.

The largest union representing workers of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority wants an independent forensic audit of pension funds. The union is also rejecting language that could reopen the contract if SEPTA's costs increase due to national health care reform.

SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said the ball is in the union's court "to come back to the table and sign the contract."

"We feel badly for our riders," he said Sunday. "They're being unnecessarily hurt in many ways across the five-county area. There are countless thousands of people who are suffering, and it's unnecessary."

Jamie Horwitz, spokesman for the Transport Workers Local 234, said the two sides had reached agreement on monetary and pension issues, but differences remained on the health reform provision and union president Willie Brown's call for an audit.

"Like riders, we want a resolution to this," Horwitz said Sunday. "We also have a responsibility to our members."

Pensions have been the major issue in the strike and "there are many questions about the way the pension was managed by SEPTA," Horwitz said.

Brown told reporters Saturday night that if the agency did not agree to an audit "then I guess we're going to be here for a while."

The health care language has taken on new urgency following the U.S. House's approval of a health care reform bill late Saturday, Horwitz said. The provision could lead to another strike or another lengthy round of negotiation before the five-year agreement runs its course, he said. Continued...