What's next after deal to end Philadelphia strike, and will DC 33 members ratify new contract?
Representatives for striking Philadelphia municipal workers reached a tentative new deal with the city on Wednesday, Day 9 of a strike that halted door-to-door trash pickup, closed several municipal pools and left several other city departments without workers.
The deal grants 9% in raises spread out over three years, averaging out to 3% a year. Mayor Cherelle Parker has touted the 5% increase from the first year of her administration and says she'll have raised the DC 33 workers' pay 14% through her first term, a figure she notes is more than several of her predecessors.
This deal being reached doesn't mean things go back to normal overnight. Here's a look at what's next after the deal was reached.
Getting Philly city services back online
Trash services
Parker and Director of Clean and Green Initiatives Carlton Williams said regular trash pickup will resume on Monday, July 14, and that before then, any residents who need to dispose of trash should make use of the city's .
As the city works to get back to normal, residents said they hope cleaning up remaining trash in their neighborhoods is a priority.
"This is disgusting. You got people that live in these neighborhoods, you got kids that live out here. Gotta ride past this every day. Got the whole neighborhood smelling. Everything stinks out here," a Tacony resident named Kevin said.
Public pools
Seventeen city pools were drained while maintenance staff were on strike. Those pools are set to be refilled starting Thursday, now that the strike is over, with the goal of having all refilled by Monday.
Fishtown resident Katherine Goeringer said she was looking forward to taking her grandson to the Fishtown Pool before it closed in the strike.
"Typically, the pool is packed and there's a line down the block; it was a ghost town after the strike," another local resident, Rhianon, said.
Free Library of Philadelphia
Library workers were also set to return to work after the agreement was reached.
"Free Library locations are now open and ready to serve our communities," the Free Library of Philadelphia said on Facebook on Wednesday, encouraging visitors to for more details on their neighborhood branch.
Any library materials due before July 15 are now due on July 15.
Deal still needs to be ratified by union workers
The tentative agreement is not a done deal — and is considerably less than the 8% a year the union came to the table asking for, a figure they later brought down to 5% a year.
DC 33 President Greg Boulware exited negotiations around 4 a.m. Wednesday, after about 14 hours, and said he wasn't happy with the terms. Still, workers were told to return to work and many were back on the job Wednesday.
More than a day later, Boulware hadn't changed his tune.
"I'm not happy now," Boulware said from the union's offices near 30th and Walnut streets Thursday afternoon.
The deal, met with celebration during a news conference with Parker at City Hall Wednesday, would see DC 33 members receive a 3% annual raise for the next three years. It's well off the union's ask of 5% a year.
The raises were Boulware's primary issue with the agreement.
"I don't know what's to celebrate," Boulware said. "The same people that were poor yesterday are still poor today."
However, Boulware said that he believes there are still more wins than losses for DC 33 members in the plan. And he points to union negotiators fending off what he said were demands from the city.
In a three-page statement posted online, the union says it fought off attempts from the city to "seize control of medical claims payments," and to add a surcharge for smokers. They also listed what they deemed "unacceptable" proposals to change sick policy and work rules.
"Everybody generally looks at the percentage increase over the life of the contract, but there's a lot more to the contract than just the percentage increases," Boulware said. "So I thought we did a really good job of staving off some of the concessions the city was offering, or trying to get from us. We gave up no concessions in this contract, so that in itself is a win."
The union president did not give a direct answer, though, on why negotiators ultimately accepted the city's deal. In its post, DC 33 said the tentative agreement was voted on by its executive board, with the final tally being 21 in favor, and five opposed.
Boulware on Thursday called the city an "unwilling dance partner," at times.
"Multiple times they kind of like, you know, take it or leave it," Boulware said. "And so we kept digging in and pushing them, and we were able to get things crossed off of the list."
With the tentative agreement now on the table, the union turns its attention to getting its more than 9,000 members to vote on it. Boulware said the union is looking to schedule a vote for early next week, and noted that he wouldn't give a recommendation to members on whether to support or reject it.
When asked what he's hearing from DC 33 members about the deal, Boulware said: "It's a mixed bag from everybody right now. So people are still now just digesting what's been accomplished."
Boulware said the union would need a simple majority of the 9,000 DC 33 members to vote in favor to accept the tentative deal.
When asked if workers would go back on strike if members rejected the deal, Boulware responded, "potentially."
Labor relations expert and Rutgers University professor Francis Ryan told CBS News Philadelphia's Liz Crawford the contract was probably the best DC 33 could get in the current political climate, with no money coming from Harrisburg or Washington to sweeten the offer.
