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Mayor Cherelle Parker is holding firm on her order for all Philadelphia city workers to return to work in person.
“I need us all, right now, to make a sacrifice for the city. This decision I made, I didn’t come to it lightly,” Parker said Tuesday. The official news conference comes on the eve of a hearing for a lawsuit filed on behalf of white-collar workers to stop the return to work order.
Robert Harris, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) District Council 47, the union representing many city workers, said some members are prepared to quit because of the mandate.
“She [Parker] wants the best and the brightest, she’s about to lose them,” he said.
Greg Boulware, the newly elected president of the AFSCME 33, representing blue-collar city workers, said about 1,700 members will be impacted. He called for all to meet in the middle.
“This is going to impact their lives,” Boulware said. “Particularly when there [are] childcare issues going on.”