07-07-2025
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."
