Philadelphia workers and city reach a deal to end strike that halted residential trash pickup

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A union representing thousands of city workers in Philadelphia and the city have reached a deal to end a more than weeklong strike that halted residential curbside trash pickup and affected other services, officials said Wednesday.

Nearly 10,000 blue-collar employees from District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees walked off the job July 1, seeking better pay and benefits after negotiations with the city failed.

The tentative agreement gives workers a 3% raise in each of the next three years, far from the union’s quest for 5% annual pay hikes. Half of the members will get an additional 2% raise through an added level on the pay scale, Mayor Cherelle Parker said, and most members will qualify by the end of the contract.

Residential trash collection will resume Monday, according to Parker, who asked for “grace” as pools, libraries, recreation centers and other services get back to normal.

“This is a very significant investment in our employees while at the same time ensuring that we as a city are living by our means,” Parker said at a news conference.

District Council 33 is the largest of four major unions representing city workers. Its membership includes 911 dispatchers, trash collectors, water department workers and many others. Police and firefighters weren’t part of the strike.

Parker said that over her four-year term, DC33 workers will have received a total pay bump of 14%, including a 5% one-year hike she gave all four unions after taking office last year.

Many residents seemed to support boosting the pay of DC33 workers, even as trash piled up in neighborhoods. The union says they earn an average $46,000 a year.

Union members must still ratify the agreement.

Rich Henkels, an actor who just moved into the city, called the settlement “disappointing.”

“The announced raises do nothing for the workers and their families, as the increases will be less than the rate of inflation,” said Henkels, 64.

The settlement was announced early on the ninth day of the strike, a period that included the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Some of the 60 drop-off centers that the city had designated for residential trash were overflowing. Most libraries and some pools across the city were closed, and recreation centers operated on reduced hours.

Last week, judges had sided with the city in ordering some critical employees back to work at the city’s 911 centers, water department and airport.

“We did the best we could with the circumstances we had in front of us,” union President Greg Boulware told reporters in brief remarks Wednesday morning.