On Oct. 2, SEPTA workers set a Halloween deadline for a strike if it can't reach an accord with the transit agency. Bob Bedard, the spokesperson for Transport Workers Union Local 234, talks about where negotiations stand, the timing of the strike and the Daily News' decision to come out against his union.

City Paper: Are negotiations going anywhere?
Bob Bedard: No. They have not moved forward because SEPTA has not budged on a single position they originally proposed on Jan. 26. Even on the non-economic side, the work rules, they haven't moved.

CP: Is the main sticking point still health coverage?
BB: That's the story from SEPTA's side. Our people have not had a raise in two years.

CP: The Daily News came out against you. Are you losing the battle for public opinion?
BB: No, not at all. The editorial department of the Daily News is run by management. Currently, they're in contract negotiations with the newspaper guild, and they're trying to gut their employees' health coverage. I saw their editorial more as a shot over the bow in their own dispute. We don't think we're losing anything.

CP: SEPTA says that "if the union wanted to go on strike, they could have gone on strike on the Fourth of July … by scheduling for this time of year, [the strike is] going to hurt the people most."
BB: If it's SEPTA's position that we should have gone on strike and ruined a national holiday, or stopped millions of dollars being raised for Africa by holding up Live 8, they should be embarrassed. To answer your real question, strikes are meant to be inconvenient. It's an unfortunate part of the struggle between working people and management. If you have a strike and no one notices, it's not effective.

CP: You've hinged part of your case on disparities between what SEPTA gives its managers and what it gives to workers. Do you think both management and workers should take a cut? Only management? Neither?
BB: If SEPTA were serious about running a business, they would look at themselves. Workers don't get sick-day pay, and managers do. It's become classism with SEPTA. They look at themselves as the wealthy people from New Orleans, and the workers as the people who live in the Ninth Ward. Hey, I like that quote. That's a good one.