Philly trash collectors, other blue-collar union workers vote in favor of new contract with city

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Trash collectors and other members of Philadelphia’s blue-collar union have voted to approve their contract deal with the city.

Members of AFSCME District Council 33 voted 1,535 in favor of the contract, with 838 against. That means little more than 2,300 votes were cast out of 9,000 members.

The deal announced earlier this month was largely seen as a win for Mayor Cherelle Parker. The new contract includes a 3% raise in each of the three years of the deal and a $1,500 bonus.

In a video posted on social media, DC33 President Greg Boulware said he was concerned about what would happen if the union didn’t approve the deal.

“In my opinion and from experts that we’ve talked to in regards to this, we would go back to the table with less negotiating power,” he said. “We come to a place of less strength than we initially started with. We got as much as we can possibly get out of the city.”

Boulware said the city would not budge at the negotiating table.

“The city consistently held their ground to say that they did not have the finances in order to be able to meet that,” he said. “They consistently highlighted issues with additional funding that usually comes from the federal government. We could not get to a place where we can make those demands.”

The union was hoping to secure 15% higher wages over four years.

Trash piled up over the eight days of the walkout, but the city dug in and was not moving off its offer, which included a 2% increase for veteran employees called a “step.”

The city settled last week with the white-collar workers union, District Council 47, which represents everything from social workers to supervisors at rec centers and libraries. Similarly, the agreement with DC47 was largely a win for the Parker administration, increasing pay by just a fraction of what the union initially sought.

Union members still need to ratify that tentative deal.

The city still needs to reach an agreement on new contracts with both the police and firefighters unions. But unlike the other contracts, police and firefighter deals are decided by binding arbitration, and those workers are not allowed to strike.