Latest news with #CarltonWilliams
The Independent
08-07-2025
- The Independent
Sanitation workers remain on strike with mounds of trash piling up in several cities
Illegal food waste dumping. Business owners cautiously watching security feeds of their dumpsters. Bystanders snapping photos of piled trash bags. Across the Northeast, a pair of sanitation strikes is headed towards their second weeks on Monday, with unions representing workers in Philadelphia and the wider Boston area continuing work stoppages as they demand higher pay. In Philadelphia, where the AFSCME District Council 33 is leading the largest city worker's strike in four decades, city officials and residents alike complained about residents failing to follow adjusted waste rules and illegally dumping, including businesses using temporary sites set up to help collect residential trash. 'In Logan this weekend, we've had a business take rotten chicken and unused oil and place it at our location. Needless to say, this person will be held accountable,' Carlton Williams, heads of the city's Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, said at a press briefing. 'They were arrested and they will be held to the fullest extent of our new process with our law department.' News video captured row after row of trash bags lining certain streets, including Calera and Red Lion Road in the city's northeast. Residents of Morrell Park told CBS News Philadelphia the neighborhood has never looked worse and is filled with the overwhelming stench of trash. "It's not right. I feel like people are really taking advantage of this," a Philadelphia resident told the station. "Normally, our sanitation workers – they don't pick up furniture. They don't pick up sofas, sinks, counters, they don't pick up these items. So people are really taking advantage, and they're using this opportunity to dump everything out of their household." The union, which represents about 9,000 municipal workers across fields including waste management, 911 dispatch, and the water department, met with the city on Saturday and is planning another round of negotiations on Tuesday. The union is requesting 5 percent wage increases over the next three years, while the city is reportedly countering with an offer just below 9 percent growth over that period. District Council 33 president Greg Boulware told NBC Philadelphia the union was potentially willing to scale back its ask. 'We're here,' he said on Monday. 'We're ready to negotiate. We're ready to sit down and we'll stay around the clock.' Further north in Massachusetts, over 400 Teamsters workers employed at Republic Services are also nearing a week on strike, impacting 14 cities and towns around the Boston area containing some 400,000 people. One business owner told NBC Boston he was now surveilling his own dumpster, to make sure people weren't illegally dumping into it, lest he get fined as bags pile up. "I usually keep this dumpster on the other side of the building, but now I have to keep it under my cameras because you come here every day and you find people's trash," Armando Giannasca, the owner of All-Pro Detailing in Peabody, said. Republic has reportedly brought in workers from other states to compensate for the missing workers, while cities such as Beverly and Malden have temporarily stopped collecting recycling. The union claims its workers are seeking comparable pay rates to members who work at other local waste management firms, while Republic says it's committed to 'good-faith negotiation for a fair agreement.'
CBS News
07-07-2025
- CBS News
DC 33, city to resume negotiations Tuesday as Philadelphia strike continues
Negotiations are set to continue Tuesday between AFSCME District Council 33 and Philadelphia city leaders, the union told CBS News Philadelphia. It's still unclear where and when the negotiations will take place, which will be Day 8 of the Philadelphia strike. One week into Philadelphia's largest municipal workers' union strike, and both sides remain dug in. DC 33 is fighting for higher wages and health care benefits for all its members. The union represents nearly 9,000 blue-collar city workers and is the largest blue-collar worker union in the city. Members of DC 33 work within the sanitation and water departments, as well as in roles, including 911 dispatchers, crossing guards, morgue employees, airport staff and more. But it's not just DC 33 union workers and city leaders who are frustrated. Philly residents are frustrated as trash continues to pile up across the city's neighborhoods. During a press conference Monday, Carlton Williams, the city's director of Clean and Green Initiatives, said the city is working to provide more services at the sanitation convenience centers by clearing the garbage piles that have accumulated around the sites. Williams said the city is working to expand the centers and implement more staff after hearing complaints from residents about overflowing dumpsters and people placing trash around the sites. Residents are asked to use the dumpsters when they're open and not put trash outside the facilities, since it slows down the collection processes, Williams said. "When bags are placed outside the dumpsters, they cause major delays and additional complications," he said. Williams emphasized that these centers are not a free pass for illegal dumping, adding that they are a temporary solution for Philadelphia residents to dispose of their trash. The city said they've received numerous reports of people taking advantage of the dumpsites by disposing of their material items. Williams referenced a business that brought rotten chicken and unused oil to a dumpsite in the city's Logan neighborhood. He said the person was arrested and will be fined for the misconduct. Residents were reminded again during the press conference not to place their garbage out for curbside pickup, as the service is temporarily suspended due to the DC 33 strike. Philadelphia strike negotiations recap Both union leadership and the Parker administration met Saturday and failed to reach an agreement. Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city's offer totals a 13% pay raise over four years and has called it historic. DC 33 President Greg Boulware disagrees, saying the city is including a 5% raise from a separate extension deal last year. The city's latest proposal includes a three-year contract, with basically a 3% wage increase in the next three years. The union wants 5% annual raises over the next three years. On Monday morning, CBS News Philadelphia spoke with a climate group that delivered bags of trash from the Piccoli Playground in North Philly to City Hall. They are demanding that Parker meet the union's demands. "This trash is piling up in our playgrounds and our parks and our rec centers. And they're creating hazardous conditions for children, for citizens who want to use our green spaces," Sultan Smalley, a member of Sunrise Movement Philadelphia, said. "She's stiffing workers, and it's not right, so we have to communicate that Philadelphians will not accept this any longer."
CBS News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
How will Philadelphia clean up trash after Fourth of July celebrations amid strike?
Amid the strike in Philadelphia, Fourth of July celebrations in the city are still in motion. Preparations are underway on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for the final night of Wawa Welcome America on Friday. With negotiations at a standstill, the big question remains: How is the city planning to clean up a potential mess after the concert and fireworks? The city says it has a plan to address any potential trash troubles on the Parkway, saying some of the sanitation sites will be shut down for the holiday and that those workers will be the ones helping clean up the Parkway. The city also enlisted outside help to set up along the Parkway while union workers picketed near the festival stage. During a press conference on Thursday, city officials said anyone hoping to attend the festival should move forward with those plans. "Our goal is to make sure that we clean up as quickly as possible," Carlton Williams, the director of the Streets Department, said. Tens of thousands of people will soon descend on the Parkway for the concert and fireworks, and people who live in the city are concerned about the trash that could be left behind. A trash pile-up in Philadelphia's Mayfair section at Princeton Avenue and Hawthorne Street as the city's municipal workers' strike continued into its third day Thursday. CBS News Philadelphia "I really do imagine that people will be feeling even more willing to throw their trash on the ground to make this problem as visible as it can possibly be for the city," Remy Poulin, of West Philly, said. "The garbage situation is really unacceptable," said Joan Kokoska, who lives in the area of the Parkway. Kokoska said that the trash piling up in areas throughout the city will pale in comparison to what could be seen once the holiday festival is over. "This is epic trash," Kokoska said. "Because every time there is a marathon or something, there is tons and tons of trash." Many are now watching the negotiations between the union and city closely, hoping a deal gets done soon. "I would like it to get settled soon," Kokoska said. In addition to the trash, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said officers will be out in large numbers to make sure the festivities are safe.
