Strikes Pennsylvania

More than 5,000 city bus, subway and trolley workers went on strike Monday afternoon, crippling Philadelphia's mass transit system and forcing commuters to find another way home. The walkout stopped a transit system used by more than 200,000 people a day in Philadelphia, a city of 1.4 million people. "I guess I'll have to hope a cab is available," said Jane Quinn, 71, visiting from North Carolina.

More than 5,000 city bus, subway and trolley workers went on strike Monday afternoon, crippling Philadelphia's mass transit system and forcing commuters to find another way home. The walkout stopped a transit system used by more than 200,000 people a day in Philadelphia, a city of 1.4 million people. "I guess I'll have to hope a cab is available," said Jane Quinn, 71, visiting from North Carolina.

More than 7,000 teachers were on strike over contract disputes in eight states Wednesday, leaving nearly 118,000 students without classes or in abbreviated sessions. "We are talking everything--salaries and fringe benefits," Barbara R. Goda, president of the Schuylkill Valley Teacher's Assn. in Pennsylvania, said of negotiations in her district.

In mid-1971, the Supreme Court agreed for the first time to hear a constitutional challenge to the long-standing state laws limiting abortion. Its decision to do so reverberates today. At that time, Texas and 30 other states had laws, dating from the 19th century, that made an abortion a crime unless it was performed to save the mother's life.