The work stoppage involving District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia has officially concluded, as Mayor Cherelle Parker announced early Wednesday morning on social media.
A lengthy negotiation session took place on Tuesday, resulting in a tentative contract agreement between the city and its blue-collar workers’ union responsible for essential services such as trash pickup.
Greg Boulware, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33, expressed his exhaustion after the 12-hour negotiation but affirmed their dedication to achieving the best possible outcome for union members.
The recently struck deal is being hailed as a significant achievement for the city, as it provides the administration with much of what it sought, including a 3% raise for workers each year over the three-year contract term.
Moreover, this agreement builds upon a previously secured 5% increase last year that extended District Council 33’s contract by an additional year.
Ultimately, over the span of Mayor Parker’s four-year term, union members will see an increase totaling more than 14%, along with a $1,500 signing bonus.
However, it is noteworthy that this agreement falls short of the 32% pay increase initially pursued by the union.
During a Wednesday morning news conference at City Hall, Parker acknowledged the importance of the negotiation team’s efforts, emphasizing the need for a collective approach to confront prevailing conditions.
She remarked, “I understood when I ran for mayor I needed a team around me and I needed them to go to war with the status quo.”
Chief Deputy Mayor Sincere Harris characterized the aftermath of the strike as a moment for healing, stating, “There is no winning when there is a strike.”
She continued, explaining that both the city and its residents suffer when labor disputes occur.
Union leadership reassured members of their efforts during the strike, stating, “Your union stood up and fought for you, and we did the best we can with the circumstances we had in front of us.”
Those circumstances included concerns from workers about potentially missing a paycheck scheduled for Thursday.
Following the strike, union officials instructed members to return to their jobs, pending a ratification vote on the newly proposed contract.
The strike, which began on July 1, involved approximately 9,000 union members and resulted in significant waste accumulation throughout the city.
Trash piles were particularly noticeable in city streets and at drop-off sites designated by the municipality.
Additionally, the work stoppage impacted local events, prompting headliners LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan to withdraw from the city’s annual Fourth of July concert.
While curbside pickup services have not yet resumed following the strike, Carlton Williams, director of the city’s Clean and Green initiative, anticipates that collection will start again by Monday.
Williams stated, “We are in the process of transitioning back to a normal collection process,” urging residents to remain patient during this transitional phase.
In the interim, sanitation workers will focus on cleaning temporary dumping sites where residents had been instructed to deposit their trash during the strike.
Despite these efforts, Williams cautioned residents against using the more than 60 designated locations for dumping, stressing the need to stop this behavior.
To mitigate further illegal dumping, the city will have continuous staff monitoring these areas, prepared to remove any trash brought to the sites.
City officials are taking a proactive stance against littering, with plans for video surveillance that could yield fines up to $5,000 for violators.
Furthermore, the city’s six sanitation convenience centers will be adjusting their hours, operating from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Friday.
After this period, normal hours will resume, returning to the schedule of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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