District Council 33 backs Milton Street for mayor

Tuesday night, District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees endorsed Milton Street for next month’s Philadelphia Democratic mayoral primary.

The endorsement came after Street, the brother of former Mayor John Street, spoke to union representatives.

With 14 member locals, the union is the city’s largest representing municipal blue-collar employees. Including trash haulers and workers from the city’s water, recreation, health and fleet departments, it represents nearly 10,000 workers.

Last week, Philadelphia’s firefighters turned their backs on Mayor Michael Nutter with their endorsement of Street for the Democratic mayoral primary.

Sheila Simmons, a spokeswoman for the Nutter campaign called the District Council  33 endorsement “embarrassing,” because Street owes the city $388,000 in back taxes.