Phila. Admin. still at odds with unions

The clock is ticking towards a June 30th contract deadline between the city of Philadelphia and it’s blue and white collar workers unions. There has only been one bargaining session so far.

The clock is ticking towards a June 30th contract deadline between the city of Philadelphia and it’s blue and white collar worker’s unions. There has only been one bargaining session so far.

Listen:
[audio: 090522tmstrike.mp3]

Philadelphia is wrestling with a more than one billion dollar budget gap over the next five years. Mayor Michael Nutter has asked the city’s unions for a significant set of give-backs to balance the budget. Pete Matthews is the head of District Council 33 that represents blue collar workers. He says the union members are not interested in give-backs:

Matthews: My last election, when I went around and campaigned with the membership, they told me quite frankly and made it clear, don’t give anything back.

Matthews says if there isn’t a change in the city’s position a strike could happen this summer. The leader of the white collar union is also signaling that union members are wary of balancing the city budget with union cuts.

Mayor Nutter says now that the city budget has been passed, he will turn to hammering out a deal with the unions.