Philly strike updates: Union talks resuming; city paying supervisors a lot to keep water clean; judge orders some PHL workers back

Contract negotiations resumed between city officials and the leaders of its largest municipal union Tuesday but, lacking a deal, trash continued to pile up in Philadelphia’s streets. And in the courts, so did the injunctions.

A Tuesday ruling sent back to work eight more members of District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The eight workers staff the Philadelphia airports’ emergency response system.

Common Pleas Court Judge Sierra Thomas-Street, who had already approved four injunction requests calling union members back to work, granted the city’s petition to order eight of the 22 dispatchers represented by DC 33 to return to work to allow for safe staffing levels at Terminal Control 3111, the system that serves as the 911 equivalent for Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

As rubbish continues to line the streets in Philadelphia, residents may be wondering how often the trash from the city's temporary trash sites are supposed to be collected.

Last week, Crystal Jacobs Shipman, the commissioner of the Department of Sanitation, said "Dumpsters are being serviced multiple times a day. Vendors are replacing full containers with empty ones in order to meet the needs for the capacity."

But this does not come without its challenges, such as "traffic, tight streets – as you know in our city – limited parking, which has cause and may cause occasional delays in swapping out those dumpsters," Shipman said.

Greg Boulware, the president of the city worker union that has been on strike for the past week, has insisted he has been willing to negotiate with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration throughout the ordeal and that he hasn't given the city a ultimatum.

If that’s the case, he would be disappointing another Boulware.

In the 1940s and 1950s, General Electric executive Lemuel Boulware promoted a hardline “take it or leave it” management strategy that came to be known as Boulwarism.

A judge ordered eight dispatchers who staff the Philadelphia airports’ emergency response system to report back to their shifts starting 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

Common Pleas Judge Sierra Thomas-Street made her ruling following a hearing at a City Hall courtroom Tuesday morning, in which the city argued that its contingency plan to staff the 911-equivalent for Philadelphia International Airport and the smaller airport in the northeast was no longer sustainable.

Terminal Control 3111, which fulfills a federal mandate for airport emergency communications, is the 911-equivalent for the airports' premises. It responded to 2,539 emergency calls last year, according to court filings.

More than 100 Philadelphia Water Department supervisors have been working 24/7 shifts at the city’s six water and wastewater treatment facilities since last Tuesday, as the union representing many staffers who manage the city’s drinking water supply remains on strike.

For the last week, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has been at loggerheads with District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees as she pushes for a “fiscally responsible” contract with the lowest-paid municipal workers’ union.

But as the picket lines carry into a second week, the Parker administration has relied on higher-paid managers to fill essential jobs at the city’s water facilities, paying them more handsomely than their DC 33 counterparts.

Philadelphia city attorneys and lawyers representing District Council 33 are set to face off in court Tuesday morning, as the city asked a judge to order airport emergency dispatchers back to work and impose sanctions on the union for alleged violations of an injunction over disruptive pickets.

The city asked Monday night that Common Pleas Judge Sierra Thomas-Street, who already approved four injunction requests, to order back to work some of the unionized employees staffing airports’ emergency response dispatch. The federally mandated system, known as Terminal Control 3111, is the 911-equivalent for any emergencies inside Philadelphia International Airport and the smaller airport in the northeast. It responded to 2,539 emergency calls last year, according to court filings.

All 22 dispatchers and two supervisors staffing the 3111 system are represented by DC 33. The city is asking that the judge order eight of them to return to work to allow for a safe staffing level.

It’s not all about the Benjamins.

While wages are the main sticking point in the contract negotiations at the center of the ongoing city workers strike, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 have also been negotiating over several other issues, such as benefits and residency rules for union members.

DC 33 is the lowest-paid among Philadelphia’s four major municipal unions. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, the average DC 33 worker’s annual salary of $46,000 is a pay rate more than $2,000 below Philadelphia’s “living wage.” Members’ salaries are a crucial sticking point in negotiations that are likely to make or break a deal.

DC 33 and members of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's administration did not meet on Monday, and there has been little progress made between the two sides in coming to an agreement.

DC 33 president Greg Boulware said the two sides are expected to resume negotiations Tuesday, but tensions remain high between. Boulware said some of the city’s conduct throughout the strike has been “deplorable,” causing progress to be difficult, if not impossible.

“It’s hard to have a conversation when someone wants to drop a piece of paper in front of you, then walk out of the room for four hours at a time,” said Boulware, adding that DC 33 was “in the process” of filing an unfair labor practice complaint against the city.

As the DC 33 worker strike grinds on, residents are being asked to bring their garbage to one of 60 drop-off sites the city had set up across the city. There are also six sanitation convenience centers, which will be open daily from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.

The city says residents can bring up to eight bags of trash on their given collection day to a drop-off site, which will be open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Residents with complaints about overflowing dumpsters or other issues with the drop-off sites are encouraged to call 311.