Mayor Parker says white-collar workers’ union deal keeps the city ‘living within its means’

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Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said the tentative contract agreement that avoided a potential strike by a second city workers’ union this week keeps the city “living within its means.”

The agreement with AFSCME District Council 47, the union representing white-collar city workers ranging from social workers to supervisors at rec centers and libraries, increases pay by just a fraction of what the union initially sought.

Parker told reporters Wednesday that higher raises would have necessitated layoffs. Union leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deal was reached early Tuesday morning following several days in which union members voted on whether to authorize a strike. It still needs to be approved by union membership.

Union leaders had urged members to give them the green light to call a strike Friday, saying the mayor’s team “did not take negotiations seriously.” Tuesday morning, DC47 leadership praised the tentative deal on social media, but did not post results of the strike vote.

“You’re gonna love it,” April Gigetts, DC47 president, told members in a video.

The tentative agreement gives members a total raise of 8.5% over the course of its three-year term, plus a one-time bonus of $1,250 during the first year. It rewards employees who work second and third shifts with salary increases. It also converts the longevity pay bumps employees receive when they hit certain years of service from bonuses to percent increases that raise their base pay, according to the union.

Under the tentative agreement, the city will cover 1% more of employees’ health care, Parker said. The deal also includes changes to sick and bereavement leave.

The union had initially sought pay increases of 8% each year.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Parker said the tentative agreement shows that the city values its workers, while protecting the city’s fiscal stability.

Parker said if it were up to her, she would have agreed to raises of “10% across the board, for every year.” But she said that would necessitate layoffs.

“When people say so simply and easily that we should just be able to increase the wage across the board — yeah, you could. I could do it,” she said. “But then you say, ‘Okay, we can do it, but now we’re going to have to lay off half the workforce.’ That’s not an option for me.”

Parker is painting the DC47 deal as a total 13.5% raise over the course of her first term, a figure that includes a one-year contract extension negotiated last year that expired June 30 and gave union members a 4.4% raise.

The new agreement is expected to cost the city a total of $92 million over the course of five years, saidRob Dubow, the city’s finance director.

The deal for the white-collar workers’ union came days after a different union representing blue-collar city workers, District Council 33, ended an eight day–long strike that caused trash to pile up across the city.

The tentative agreement DC33 reached with the city was viewed as a win for Parker. DC33 President Greg Boulware said he felt the union’s time was running out. Judges had ordered some striking workers to return to essential jobs.

“The strike is over, and nobody’s happy,” Boulware told the Philadelphia Inquirer after negotiations ended with a deal for 3% raises for union members each year of the three-year contract.

DC33’s tentative agreement, which members still need to ratify, is expected to cost the city a total of $115 million over five years.

With the two negotiated contracts, the city has committed less than half of the $550 million labor reserve included in this year’s five-year budget plan.

The city still needs to negotiate contracts with unions representing police, firefighters, prison employees and steel workers, officials said.