District Council 33 reaches tentative contract agreement with City of Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA - The City of Philadelphia and District Council 33 have come to a tentative agreement on a new contract. 

The agreement effectively ends a crippling strike in the city that caused a major trash problem in the days surrounding the Fourth of July.

District Council 33 represents over 9,000 city workers in several critical departments, including sanitation, water, and 911 dispatchers.

What we know:

Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the end of the strike in a statement posted early Wednesday morning.

"The work stoppage involving District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia is OVER," Parker said.

The tentative three-year contract agreement will increase District Council 33 members pay by 14% over Parker's 4-years in office. It also includes a one-year extension of the contract the two sides agreed to last fall. 

"We're valuing our workforce and we're safeguarding our city's hard-earned fiscal stability at the same time," Parker continued. "The strike is over."

Meanwhile, District Council 33 President Greg Boulware shared his displeasure about the contract agreement with reporters while leaving negotiations early Wednesday morning.

"A deal has been reached, unfortunately," Boulware said. "The City of Philadelphia has to do better by its members, has to put the members and the workers who handle all the essential functions as a priority in the city, I don't feel like that's been done."

Boulware said there were "a lot of factors involved" that lead District Council 33 to accept the city's offer that they felt was in the best interest of its members.

"Your union stood up and fought for you and we did the best we could with the circumstances we had in front of us," Boulware said.

The tentative agreement will still need to be ratified by District Council 33 union members.

When does trash collection resume?

Officials say residents can start putting their trash out again starting on Monday when the city resumes its regular trash collection schedule.

"It will be collected by the great men and women of District Council 33," said Carlton Williams, director of Clean and Green Initiatives.

Residents are being urged not to return to the public disposal sites set up during the strike.

Those sites are being cleared out and shut down in the coming days.

However, officials say compactors will be stationed at each site to collect and clear any trash that is brought to those locations during the transition.

Residents with trash collection days scheduled prior to Monday can bring their trash to the city's six sanitation convenience centers.

What they're saying:

Mayor Parker tearfully thanked members of her administration who helped navigate the city through the crippling work stoppage that saw mounds of trash pile up on streets and sidewalks.

"The work stoppage involving District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia is over – it's over," Parker said.

"This is a very significant investment in our employees, while at the same time ensuring that we, as a city, are living within our means," Parker, who all along vowed to find a "fair" and "fiscally responsible" offer, said.

Before the deal was reached, Parker spent the work stoppage championing the city's offer, which she said would raise wages more than any Philadelphia mayor in their first term in the last 30 years.

"I want you to know this: Your city values you and the work that you do every day for our residents. This city moves and works because you do," Parker said about District Council 33 members. "No matter what, we can't move without you."

Parker announced that trash collection will resume in Philadelphia on Monday. Until then, residents are asked to continue hauling their own trash to a dedicated dumping site.

"I know how very challenging this week has been difficult for you as well," Parker said to Philadelphians. "Nobody wants to see mounds of trash sitting by dumpsters, or by the side of the road or street."

Parker apologized for the trash disruption, but vowed that the city did "the best we could with what we had."

"To provide the city services that were essential to making our public health and safety a priority during this challenging time," Parker said.

The backstory:

District Council 33 members took to the picket lines on July 1 after a midnight deadline to find a new contract came and went without a deal.

The strike came hours after Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker rolled out a contingency plan in the event District Council members walked off the job. 

With sanitation workers on strike, Parker said there would be no trash pick-up and Philly residents would have to haul their garbage to a dedicated dumping site.

This caused mounds of trash to pour out of dumpsters and overwhelm sidewalks, as the city struggled to make up for the absence of its sanitation department.

The strike also meant service disruptions to Philadelphia's water department for things like water main breaks and street cave-ins.

In the heat of summer, over a dozen Philadelphia pools were forced to close, and recreation centers needed to cut hours.

During the strike, the city filed an injunction against illegal picketing, accusing some union members of harassing city employees and blocking entries to dumping sites, health care facilities, and rec centers.

"We couldn't get our doctors into the health centers today," Philadelphia Solicitor Director Renee Garcia said. "They were slashing tires on trucks, preventing traffic, trash drop-offs. "We have residents going to drop off their trash, and they're getting harassed on their way."

This was the third legal action the city placed on the union. The first was a pair of injunctions that forced 72 Water Department employees and over 200 911 dispatchers back to work. 

"I would like to see this come to a halt yesterday," District Council 33 President Greg Boulware said. "We could have met yesterday, but the City had us in court all day filing injunctions." 

Mayor Cherelle Parker tried to entice union members with an offer that included a 12% wage increase, which she said is the largest given out by a Philadelphia mayor in their first term over the last 30 years.

"For an average District Council 33 worker, that means an average annual pay increase of $2,383," Parker said in a video posted to Facebook last weekend.

That wasn't enough to pull union members from the picket lines, and the strike as both sides would not budge on their concessions. 

After a weeklong standstill and rounds of contract negotiations, the City of Philadelphia and District Council 33 reached a tentative agreement on a new contract that raises union wages by 14% over Parker's four years in office.

Dig deeper:

Before a deal was reached, Parker claimed the 12% wage increase being offered by the city was the largest raise a mayor in their first term has extended in the last 30 years.  

Ed Rendell increased District Council 33 wages by 5% in his first term as mayor. John Street dolled out a 9% increase during his first four years in office. Michael Nutter didn't raise wages at all in his first term. And former mayor Jim Kenney gave out a 11.5% raise to District Council 33 members in his first term.

"That increase of more than 12%, it will represent the largest one-term pay increase for District Council 33 from any mayor in more than 3 decades," Parker said.

In her first year alone, Parker said the city and the union agreed to a 5% pay increase – the largest one-year wage bump that the union has seen in three decades. 

"For an average District Council 33 worker, that meant an average annual pay increase of $2,383," Parker said. "If the workforce of District Council 33 accepts the proposal that we have already put on the table for them, their pay increase will total over 12%."

The two sides ended up agreeing to a three-year contract with a 14% raise over Parker's four years in office, and a 1-year contract extension to the deal they agreed to last year.

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