Philadelphia

At midnight on June 30, over 9,000 city workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 in Philadelphia went on strike for the first time in 40 years. Earlier in the day, hundreds of union members and their supporters rallied outside City Hall to explain their key issues and build support for a strike. 

Participating in the rally were members and representatives from the Philadelphia AFL-CIO Labor Council, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Government Employees, UNITE-HERE Local 634, AFSCME DC 47 (representing city “white collar” workers), Transit Workers Union Local 234, 1199C NUHHCE, Starbucks Workers United, AFSCME 397 Cultural Workers United and others.

Separate union locals under the DC 33 umbrella represent workers in the city’s departments of streets and sanitation, recreation, library maintenance, water, finance, health, parking, 911 call centers, school crossing guards, the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the Philadelphia International Airport.

DC 33 last struck for 20 days in 1986 when “45,000 tons of garbage accumulated” in city streets, according to the New York Times. (July 21, 1986) With a strike starting July 1, trash will pile up during official city celebrations for the July 4th Independence Day.

During the multiple days of July 4th celebrations, when thousands of people are expected to gather on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway each day, there will be no collections of trash or recyclables, no experienced 911 police and fire dispatchers, no maintenance of public bathrooms, runways or airfields at the airport and a citywide shutdown of health centers. 

In November 2024, after DC 33 also authorized a strike, the city agreed to a one-year contract favorable for the union, which included a 5% raise, a $1,400 bonus and other benefits. That contract expired at the end of the city’s fiscal year, June 30, 2025.

Poverty wages for essential workers

The city’s final offer for the contract with essential workers that begins on July 1 is a three-year deal with annual increases of 2%, 3% and 3% for each year. A 2% increase would give a worker around $900 more per year at a time when inflation is over 6%. The union is demanding a four-year contract with an 8% annual increase for each year. 

Union spokespeople described DC 33 members, who make an average of $45,000 to $46,000 per year, as “the working poor.” Multiple estimates for the annual income needed for a family of four to live moderately comfortably in Philadelphia range from $85,000 to $100,000. 

At the rally, DC 33 shared a chart showing that salary increases budgeted for city management ranged from 9% for Mayor Cherelle Parker up to 62% for the Chief Administrator. These increases for management come on top of 2024 salaries ranging from $240,347 for the mayor to $101,936 for the mayor’s Chief. The increase for the mayor of $21,631 would be almost half of the current annual salary for a DC 33 member.

Early in her term in January 2024, Parker staged several press events to boast about the great job her administration was doing in snow removal that winter. Lest Parker forget, she and other management were not the ones doing that work. It was the workers in DC 33 — and nothing runs in the city without them. 

One sign carried by a DC 33 member said it all: “The only trash we will take out this week is the city’s proposed contract.”

The rally was frequently interrupted with chants of “DC 33! If we don’t get it, shut it down!” and “Philly is a union town!” When the rally ended, those gathered took to the streets to surround City Hall, shutting down traffic for an hour.