Mayor Parker, unwavering in negotiations, dangles holiday pay incentive to end strike

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Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker is trying to end the municipal worker union strike before the Fourth of July holiday using several strategies — including a direct appeal to the rank and file while simultaneously forcing more union members back to work by court order.

As the last time union workers with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 have been paid stretches past one week, there’s mounting pressure on the personal finances of especially low-wage employees – the median pay of which is about $46,000 in Philadelphia.

But there’s plenty of work to do as the city is overwhelmed with growing mountains of trash.

A federal holiday can be a particularly lucrative day for workers, since union members can earn double time if they leave the picket line and return to the job, Parker said.

“We can negotiate and get this deal done tonight. Our DC33 workers [can] earn double time tomorrow. I want us back together,” Parker said, standing on top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps overlooking the Ben Franklin Parkway.

Parker claims she can improve workers’ lives without increasing their pay to the exact percentage raise union leadership wants.

The mayor says she can’t offer more money than 13% over her four-year term – that figure includes the 5% increase during the one-year extension between June 2024 and June 2025 – because she won’t have enough for the other unions in the budget.

The union contract itself is technically three years, but there was a one-year extension when it expired last year. Parker’s three-year deal would cost $115 million from the city budget as part of the five-year plan. That money would come out of the $550 million for the labor negotiations reserve in this year’s budget recently approved by City Council.

Parker says she’s not willing to budge on the stickiest point: how much workers get paid per hour.

The union wants 5% a year for the next three years, which would be a 20% wage increase over the mayor’s four-year term.

“I won’t make any politically expedient decisions. You can threaten me with not supporting me if I decide to run for reelection. You can call me a one-term mayor,” she said. “But I’ll tell you what I will not do. I will not put the fiscal stability of the city of Philadelphia in jeopardy for no one. If that means I’m a one-term mayor, then so be it.”

Parker claims that DC33 union members’ health benefits costs will not change as part of the negotiated deal. And that the city says it’s offering a seniority pay level, known as a fifth step in pay, which could in theory offer more money to longtime workers.

Though typically not part of a union negotiation that often includes wages, paid time off policies and health benefits, the Parker administration is trying to lump in dedicated low interest 30-year home mortgages for DC33 union members as part of their contract deal. The administration is also offering special dedicated access to all the home affordability programs she’s been spearheading.

The city is also using the courts to require some workers back on the job. A judge issued a court order requiring medical examiner’s office workers back on the job by 3 p.m. Thursday as dead bodies are piling up and remains must be returned to the next of kin and families. That’s in addition to court orders requiring 911 call center workers back to the phone, prohibiting workers from blocking trash dump entrances or harassing city staff and other measures.

City leaders also blame striking workers for vandalism and harassment during the strike. Workers have also been accused of jamming locks at health centers, slashing city vehicle tires, opening fire hydrants and even heckling residents trying to drop off trash. The union denies all of those claims.

Speaking Thursday on WHYY’s “Studio 2” program, Greg Boulware, president of AFSCME District Council 33, says that his members were directing traffic and trash at sanitation centers – not causing trouble.

“Quite honestly, the city has hired a boatload of contractors in places where our men and women work, and there’s no telling what any of those folks have done,” Boulware said. “Implying that it’s our members that are out there doing a thing to me is inflammatory. There’s nothing to get these negotiations done or shed positive imagery on our men and women.”

WHYY News did witness a police standoff at a sanitation center in Northwest Philadelphia on Wednesday as the dump was locked and residents were nervous to drop off their trash.

Over several hours, workers at some points were friendly to neighbors trying to drop trash and recycling while, in other moments, they heckled residents. As of Thursday, the sanitation center is open to the public and the gates are open.

As Parker is trying to get the union back to the table, the union says it’s not sure it’s going to meet tonight.

“The city presented the proposal. We have to work with our team internally to make sure we can counter that proposal. As soon as we do, they’ll have that in hand, and then we’ll figure out when the next time is to be able to sit down and negotiate,” Boulware said.

In the meantime, Parker urged visitors not to cancel their plans to visit Philadelphia for Fourth of July.

“Any one who was planning on coming into our city, if you’re flying in, taking a bus or the train in, residents who are gathering their family together in order to come down on the Parkway to do what we do here in the city of Philadelphia and celebrating here in the birthplace of democracy, please make sure you don’t adjust any of those plans,” she said.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct amount of money in the Parker administration’s proposed contract.