Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s summer of municipal labor unrest is likely over as white-collar city union approves contract
The contract will cost the city approximately $92 million over the course of five years, the administration said.
Members of the union for white-collar city workers such as supervisors and professionals have voted to ratify a three-year contract agreement with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, ending a period of labor unrest in Philadelphia that saw another municipal union go on strike for more than eight days.
About 84% of the members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 47 who voted in the ratification election approved the deal, April Gigetts, the union president, said on Friday. The union has nearly 4,000 members, and about 55% cast ballots, she said.
“The contract that we negotiated was a fair contract, a good contract,” Gigetts said in an interview. “It’s the highest participation we’ve seen in a long time and an overwhelming yes vote speaks to [members’] satisfaction.”
The new contract includes annual raises of 2.5%, 3%, and 3% as well as a one-time $1,250 bonus for all members and a 1% raise in the fifth step of the union’s pay scale. The contract also includes improvements for employees who work second or third shifts. And the city will boost its payments for healthcare claims for DC 47 members.
The contract will cost the city approximately $92 million in added costs over the course of five years, according to Parker’s administration.
Negotiations between Gigetts and Parker’s team, which was led by Chief Deputy Mayor Sinceré Harris, wrapped up around 5:30 a.m. on July 15, the city said.
“When you see you’re getting close, you want to stick it out to the end,” Gigetts said.
Parker at the time called the deal a “milestone.”
“This agreement reflects our commitment to valuing the hard work and dedication of our public service employees,” the mayor said in a statement. “Together, we are investing in our workforce and ensuring that our city continues to thrive through collaboration and mutual respect.”
The previous contracts for all four major municipal unions expired July 1. At that time, DC 47 signed a two-week extension with the Parker administration to allow negotiations to continue.
AFSCME’s DC 33, which represents about 9,000 blue-collar city workers including trash collectors and 911 operators, took a more combative approach, calling a strike that shut down or hindered many city services and lasted more than a week.
During DC 33’s strike, Philadelphia’s first “trash strike” since city sanitation workers walked off the job in 1986, members of DC 47’s Local 2187 held a strike-authorization vote. (Local 2187 includes administrative assistants and professionals, and it is the only municipal local within DC 47 that represents executive branch employees and is legally permitted to strike.)
» READ MORE: How the AFSCME DC 33 strike exposed fault lines in Philly’s labor movement
The local’s president said at the time that he was holding the vote at the request of members, and it appeared unlikely DC 47 leadership was eager to join DC 33 members on the picket lines.
Gigetts said Friday that the strike authorization “was an overwhelming yes vote.”
The other two major municipal unions still seeking new contracts are the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22.
State law prohibits unions representing public safety employees from going on strike and it prescribes a special process for determining their contracts known as binding interest arbitration, in which a three-person panel hears both sides’ proposals and issues a contract.
The city has little room to appeal the contract, known as an arbitration award, unless it is in dire straits financially. That is unlikely to be the case this year unless there is a sudden economic downturn, or President Donald Trump makes good on his threats to cut federal funding to cities.
While tensions have eased between the administration and unions representing city workers, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers’ contract with the School District of Philadelphia ends Aug. 31, and union members have already voted to authorize a strike.
The school district and the city are separate government entities, with the former being led by Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr., not Parker. But Parker appoints the nine-member school board, and a teachers strike would be a major crisis for the city government as well.
Staff writer Fallon Roth contributed to this article.