AFSCME District Council 33 leaders and Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration have reached a tentative contract agreement, ending a city workers’ strike that suspended trash pickup for over a week and disrupted a host of other municipal services.
The deal was announced early Wednesday morning and still must be ratified through a vote by DC 33 members; however, the roughly 9,000 city employees represented by the union are expected to return to their jobs during that process. DC 33’s strike began July 1.
Curbside collection will resume Monday, Parker administration officials said. In the meantime, residents can hold onto their garbage or take it to one of the city’s six sanitation convenience centers.
Carlton Williams, the city’s director of clean and green initiatives, said the centers will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For a list of locations, go to phila.gov/sanitation.
The 63 dumpster drop-off points, which were set up to allow Philadelphians to dispose of their trash in the midst of the work stoppage, are being shut down and are no longer accepting refuse, Williams said.
DC 33 members, under the proposed agreement, would receive a 3% annual raise over the three-year contract, totaling 9%. Combined with a 5% increase last year, their salaries will have increased 14% – the most over a mayoral term in more than three decades, Parker said.
“We balanced valuing the men and women of District Council 33 for the hard and vital work that they perform with protecting the fiscal responsibility of this city and its stability,” the mayor said at a City Hall news conference Wednesday morning.
The deal would expand the pay scale, adding a 5th “step” and granting an additional 2% raise for the most experienced workers. Half of DC 33 members will qualify for the pay bump immediately, and 80% will over the course of the contract, if they continue their employment with the city, according to the Mayor’s Office.
Employees covered by the union are also slated to receive $1,500 bonuses in the first year of the agreement.
Though DC 33 officials pushed for a relaxation of a requirement that members live within city limits, no changes were made to that provision, Parker administration representatives said.
The terms of the tentative contract are “largely what was on the table June 30,” when DC 33 leadership called for a strike, Chief Deputy Mayor Sinceré Harris noted.
City negotiators increased their salary offer by a quarter of a percent. Union leaders, meanwhile, had initially advocated for 8% yearly raises but later reportedly reduced that demand to 5%.
There was no sign of DC 33 President Greg Boulware or other union officials at Parker’s press briefing, which was crowded with leaders in her administration.
“I know that we’re going to need some healing time,” Parker said, specifically referring to Boulware and the union. “You can’t get through something as intense as this and not have to go through healing time.”
DC 33 leadership did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Boulware, as he was walking out of the final early morning negotiation session, informed reporters that a deal had been reached “unfortunately.”
“I’m not happy or satisfied with the outcome,” he said. “There was a lot of factors involved in what was going on, and we ultimately did what we thought was in the best interest of all of our membership.”
On Facebook, a union announcement that the strike was ending drew more than 300 overwhelmingly negative comments. One user opined that DC 33 “folded like a lawn chair,” while others urged members to vote against the agreement.
News of the deal came as a bit of a surprise. DC 33 and other labor organizations had, as recently as Tuesday afternoon, publicized a planned picket around City Hall, scheduled to take place the following day.
It was not exactly clear why the union decided to call off the strike. One theory is that the city’s legal team was preparing to request a preliminary injunction ordering sanitation workers to return to their jobs in the name of public health.
In recent days, the Parker administration had successfully obtained a series of court orders mandating that 911 dispatchers, Medical Examiner Office employees, essential Philadelphia Water Department staff and others go back to work. However, the rulings affected only a small portion of DC 33’s membership.
Parker deflected a question about the issue. “About anything that we were woulda, coulda, shoulda. Not a part of our calculus. We’re here trying to bring our family back together.”
Among the most visible manifestations of the strike were the mounds of trash bags that cropped up around the city’s temporary drop-off sites – derisively nicknamed “Parker piles” by DC 33 sympathizers.
Williams said crews will be cleaning any remaining garbage at those locations. Cameras will also be installed to prevent future illegal dumping, he added. Violators could face hefty fines and have their vehicles confiscated.
Parker, during the press conference, became emotional as she recognized members of her cabinet and discussed the “very challenging” situation of trying to keep Philadelphia running as much as possible while workers were on strike.
“It wasn’t pleasant for anyone,” she said, addressing residents. “And I didn’t like seeing it any more than you did. I can only tell you that we did the best we could with what we had.”
