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Newly-released surveillance footage shows a group of about a dozen hoodie-clad individuals punching the 55-year-old worker at the 15th Street/City Hall subway station.
The thugs continued kicking the man until he falls to the ground, and goes unconscious.
The employee reportedly suffered a concussion as a result of the incident.
"SEPTA’s transit police department is severely understaffed," SEPTA Transport Workers Union Local 234 said in a statement.
"Currently the force is budgeted to have 200 officers but employs just 120. Furthermore, under Nestel’s direction, police have been using a 'catch and release' strategy, which means charges are not brought against individuals who assault workers and riders.
SEPTA’s own data show that despite an 80% decline in ridership during the pandemic, assault rates for transit workers have not decreased, the union said.
Transit workers believe that less crowded buses and stations make SEPTA’s workforce more vulnerable to violent crime.
“Women who are our members are scared to open the stations at 5 a.m.,” said Local 234 President Willie Brown. “I’m tired of reports of our people being punched, kicked, beaten and robbed.”
The union is seeking more cameras, more police and arrests of the assailants, whom they say have been allowed to go free when they're caught.
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