PHILADELPHIA - Transit Workers Union Local 234 on Friday said they have reached a tentative agreement with SEPTA on a new 2-year contract, avoiding a strike that would have brought the city's transportation services to a screeching halt. "I am very pleased that we were able to come to terms without a strike," said TWU Local 234 President Willie Brown. "Our members are essential workers who move Philadelphia and who have risked their lives putting their own families at risk during this pandemic."MORE SEPTA HEADLINESThe union said it asked for and received modest wage increases of 3% in each year of the new agreement and pandemic-related hazard bonuses of one dollar for each hour worked between March 15, 2020 and March 15, 2021, to a maximum.