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Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Philadelphia strike ends: Union wins tentative deal after 9 days of chaos
A union representing thousands of city workers in Philadelphia and the city have reached a deal to end a more than weeklong strike that halted residential curbside trash pickup and affected other services, officials said Wednesday. Trash is cleaned up at a drop-off site in Philadelphia as thousands of city workers remained on strike Tuesday.(AP) Nearly 10,000 blue-collar employees from District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees had walked off the job July 1, seeking better pay and benefits after failing to agree with the city on a new contract. The tentative agreement was announced on what would have been the ninth day of the strike. That period, which included the Fourth of July holiday weekend, created a backlog of trash. Some drop-off centers were overflowing. Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the end of the strike and the agreement with the union on social media. 'The work stoppage involving the District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia is OVER,' she posted. 'We have reached a tentative agreement with District Council 33, which must be ratified by its membership on a new three-year contract that, coupled with the one-year contract extension we agreed to last fall, will increase DC 33 members' pay by 14 per cent over my four years in office.' Parker said, 'We'll have much more to say about this historic deal' at City Hall. District Council 33 is the largest of four major unions representing city workers. Its membership includes 911 dispatchers, trash collectors, water department workers and many others. Police and firefighters weren't part of the strike. Last week, judges had sided with the city in ordering some critical employees back to work at the city's 911 centres, water department and airport. 'The strike is over! Details forthcoming,' the union posted on Facebook Wednesday morning. Union President Greg Boulware briefly spoke with reporters after the deal was reached. 'We did the best we could with the circumstances we had in front of us,' he said. The city had designated about 60 sites as drop-off centers for residential trash, but some were overflowing, while striking workers on hand asked residents not to cross the picket line. Most libraries across the city are were closed, with support workers and security guards off the job.A union representing thousands of city workers in Philadelphia and the city have reached a deal to end a more than weeklong strike that halted residential curbside trash pickup and affected other services, officials said Wednesday. Nearly 10,000 blue-collar employees from District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees had walked off the job July 1, seeking better pay and benefits after failing to agree with the city on a new contract. The tentative agreement was announced on what would have been the ninth day of the strike. That period, which included the Fourth of July holiday weekend, created a backlog of trash. Some drop-off centers were overflowing. Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the end of the strike and the agreement with the union on social media. 'The work stoppage involving the District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia is OVER,' she posted. 'We have reached a tentative agreement with District Council 33, which must be ratified by its membership on a new three-year contract that, coupled with the one-year contract extension we agreed to last fall, will increase DC 33 members' pay by 14 percent over my four years in office.' Parker said, 'we'll have much more to say about this historic deal' at City Hall. District Council 33 is the largest of four major unions representing city workers. Its membership includes 911 dispatchers, trash collectors, water department workers and many others. Police and firefighters weren't part of the strike. Last week, judges had sided with the city in ordering some critical employees back to work at the city's 911 centers, water department and airport. 'The strike is over! Details forthcoming,' the union posted on Facebook Wednesday morning. Union President Greg Boulware briefly spoke with reporters after the deal was reached. 'We did the best we could with the circumstances we had in front of us,' he said. The city had designated about 60 sites as drop-off centers for residential trash, but some were overflowing, while striking workers on hand asked residents not to cross the picket line. Most libraries across the city are were closed, with support workers and security guards off the job.
UPI
09-07-2025
- Business
- UPI
Philadelphia blue-collar union, city resume talks as trash piles up
July 8 (UPI) -- Philadelphia officials and members of the city's union representing blue-collar workers resumed negotiations Tuesday as residents grew increasingly frustrated with garbage piling up on the streets. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 union last held talks with city officials Saturday over wages and benefits. The union's 9,000 members went on strike July 1 after negotiations broke down. The union is seeking a 15% increase in pay for members over the next year, while the city has offered an 8.75% increase over the same period of time, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia reported. An attorney representing the AFSCME District Council 33 said talks were set to resume Tuesday afternoon at the Community College of Philadelphia, WCAU-TV reported. Union President Greg Boulware said he was optimistic about the direction of the talks. "Today's another day. I'm hopeful that we can get in this room and make some progress and get this CBA resolved, and get our men and women back to work," he said. Meanwhile, a local judge ordered eight dispatchers for Philadelphia International Airport to return to work to ensure the safety of the airport. A judge previously ordered workers at Philadelphia's 911 dispatch and the Medical Examiner's Office to also return to work. Philadelphia residents have grown increasingly frustrated by trash piling up without sanitation workers on the job. The city arranged several drop-off sites across Philadelphia,
08-07-2025
- Politics
Trash and tension mount in Philadelphia on Day 8 of workers strike
PHILADELPHIA -- As trash and tempers heat up across Philadelphia on Day 8 of a strike by blue-collar city workers Tuesday, some residents and small business owners are hiring pop-up hauling services to clear their blocks of garbage, even as they broadly support the union's quest for higher pay. Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, is standing firm in her offer of raises of about 3% per year over a three-year contract, which comes on top of a 5% raise she gave as an olive branch to all four major city unions after taking office last year. 'I do believe that the mayor has made a gross mistake,' said Jody Sweitzer, who has watched her East Passyunk neighborhood in South Philadelphia gentrify in her 26 years there, leading to higher rents and less diversity. Sweitzer owns a popular downtown bar called Dirty Frank's. 'Forty thousand dollars cannot cut it in Philadelphia, you know," she said, referring to striking workers' pay. "You can barely rent an apartment with that kind of money. So I feel as a resident of Philadelphia that she's doing injustice to those (workers) who actually live here.' The strike by District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees involves nearly 10,000 workers, although judges have sided with the city in ordering some critical employees back to work at the city's 911 centers, water department and airport. Judges have also decreed a temporary halt on evictions. The two sides have met only intermittently since the strike began, but there was hope they would return to the bargaining table on Tuesday. In the summer of 1986, a citywide trash strike went on for three weeks, leaving 45,000 tons of rotting garbage in the streets. Terrill Haigler, 35, a former sanitation worker who now does private hauling under the handle 'Ya Fav Trashman," said tension across the city was heating up Tuesday along with the 94-degree (34.4-degree Celsius) temperature. 'It's like Gotham City with water ice,' he said, referencing a local treat that is famously mispronounced 'wooder ice' by natives. 'We support District Council 33 100%,' Haigler said. 'They deserve everything that they're asking for, but we also have to think about the residents on the other side. There are some people — elderly, mothers who have children — who can't let the trash sit for five, six, seven and eight days.' A shop owner on Sweitzer's street hired Haigler to clear the block Tuesday. In turn, he hired two teenagers to help him while he drove a rental truck down the narrow, one-way street that ends at Pat's King of Steaks. 'Our goal is to hopefully relieve some of that tension by cleaning as many blocks as we can, picking up as much trash as we can for customers, just to give some ease and some peace," Haigler said. The city has designated about 60 sites as drop-off centers for residential trash, but some are overflowing, while striking workers on hand ask residents not to cross the picket line. Most libraries across the city are also closed, with support workers and security guards off the job. While Sweitzer hoped the strike would encourage more people to cut down on their trash through composting, city officials said other residents were taking advantage of the situation and discarding mattresses and other bulk items. Offenders in the city's northeast even put out rotten chicken and cooking oil. The chicken tossers were arrested and face $5,000 fines, according to Carlton Williams, director of the city's Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. 'This is not a free pass for illegal dumping around the city of Philadelphia,' Williams said Monday.
NBC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan back out of Philadelphia July Fourth festival in solidarity with local union
Hip-hop legend LL Cool J announced that he was pulling out of a Fourth of July festival in Philadelphia in support of municipal workers' ongoing strike in the city. 'There's absolutely no way that I could perform, cross a picket line and pick up money when I know that people are out there fighting for a living wage,' he said Thursday in a video posted on X. He made the announcement the night before the Wawa Welcome America Festival, Philadelphia's annual July Fourth celebration. LL Cool J was set to headline the festival along with Grammy-winning singer Jazmine Sullivan. He continued by saying he hoped 'the city can make a deal' and that he plans to be in Philadelphia 'in case it works out.' The union, District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, began its strike at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning after no new agreement for a higher-paying contract was reached. Union members are responsible for essential public services, such as 911 dispatch and sanitation. The union responded to LL Cool J on social media, saying it was encouraging to see him use his influence 'to champion causes that matter to everyday people.' 'LL Cool J's decision to stand in solidarity with the labor movement by choosing not to cross a picket line is a powerful testament to his respect for workers' rights,' the union said in a statement. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said she was aware of LL Cool J's decision to not perform and she had 'spoke personally' with him. 'I respect his decision, and understand his desire to see the city unified. He is always welcome in Philadelphia,' she said in a statement. Hours before she was set to perform, Sullivan also announced she was backing out of the festival in solidarity with the union. 'Today I choose to not perform at the Wawa Welcome America concert and stand with Philly's DC33 until the city and union find a way to bring fair living wages to our working class,' Sullivan wrote on Instagram. Parker confirmed that Sullivan had also decided not to perform, saying, 'I respect Jazmine's decision, and understand her desire to see our City unified,' adding: 'Jazmine, your hometown loves you!' Greg Boulware, the union president, said he was 'profoundly humbled' by Sullivan's decision to back out of her performance. 'It's truly refreshing to witness a celebrity of her stature and a native Philadelphian recognizing and valuing the tireless dedication of municipal workers,' he said in a statement. Wawa Welcome America is one of the nation's largest July Fourth celebrations. A representative for the festival did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On July 1 — after the city of Philadelphia was granted three injunctions — a judge ordered some union members to return to work. In response, the union encouraged affected members to 'comply with this directive immediately to avoid any legal consequences.'
Washington Post
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Thousands of city workers are on strike in Philadelphia but judge orders some back to work
PHILADELPHIA — A strike being staged by nearly 10,000 city workers in Philadelphia entered its second day Wednesday as a judge ordered some emergency service dispatchers and essential water department employees to return to work. Common Pleas Court Judge Sierra Thomas-Street granted the city an injunction Tuesday stating 237 out of 325 workers at the city's 911 call center must return to work because their absence creates a 'clear and present danger to threat to health, safety or welfare of the public.' The order does not prevent those workers — 32 fire dispatchers, five supervisors and 200 police dispatchers — from participating in the strike during off-duty hours. The judge also ordered some water department workers back to the job because they're essential to ensuring fresh, clean drinking water is available to residents. Seeking better pay and benefits, District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced the strike early Tuesday, spurring nearly 10,000 blue-collar workers to walk off the job. During the day, the strikers waved signs at traffic near City Hall and formed picket lines outside libraries, city offices and other workplaces. Mayor Cherelle Parker has said the city would suspend residential trash collection, close some city pools and shorten recreation center hours, but vowed to keep the city running. Police and firefighters are not on strike. Parker, a pro-labor Democrat, promised that Fourth of July celebrations in the nation's birthplace would go on as usual. In a statement Tuesday, the mayor said the city had 'put its best offer on the table.' The city offered raises that amount to 13% over her four-year term, including last year's 5% bump, and added a fifth step to the pay scale to align with other city unions, she said. District Council 33 is the largest of four major unions representing city workers. Union president Greg Boulware President Greg Boulware said the city isn't coming anywhere close to the wage increases the union is seeking. Union leaders, in their initial contract proposal , asked for 8% annual raises each year of the three-year contract, along with cost-of-living hikes and bonuses of up to $5,000 for those who worked through the pandemic. The union also asked the city to pay the full cost of employee health care, or $1,700 per person per month. In November, the city transit system averted a strike when the parties agreed to a one-year contract with 5% raises. A District Council 33 trash strike in the summer of 1986 left the city without trash pickup for three weeks, leading trash to pile up on streets, alleyways and drop-off sites. Philadelphia is not the only area dealing with a strike. Trash also piled up across more than a dozen Massachusetts towns Tuesday after 400 waste collection workers went on strike ahead of the July 4 holiday, according to news reports. The contract with waste removal company Republic Services and Teamsters Local 25 union expired on Monday night. The union said workers are pushing for better wages, benefits, working conditions and paid time off. ___ Associated Press journalist Leah Willingham in Boston contributed to this report.
