From high energy on the picket lines to ‘demoralized’ at work: How DC 33 members are navigating a post-strike workplace

N.B. wakes up at 4:30 a.m. most days to begin their eight-hour shift as a sanitation worker in Philadelphia, where they lug what they estimate to be 18,000 pounds of the city’s trash into their truck — regardless of rain, shine, heat, or snow.

The work is unrelenting and physical, and the pay since N.B. — who asked to be identified by their initials because they are not authorized to speak to the media — took the job in October 2024 has been barely enough to get by, they said.

Receiving a nearly $1,200 biweekly salary, N.B. said about half of each month’s pay goes to rent for their studio apartment. Meanwhile, N.B. said, they are bracing for the financial impacts when one of their daughters heads off to college next month, wondering what happens when she needs help buying a textbook for class.

So when word came that N.B.’s union, District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was set to go on strike this month for higher wages, the sanitation worker was on board with the message.

For workers in DC 33, Philadelphia’s lowest-paid municipal bargaining unit, the average salary is $46,000 annually, more than $2,000 below the city’s “living wage” for a single adult without children, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator.

The union called the strike at 12:01 a.m. July 1 after DC 33 and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration failed to reach a contract deal before the old one expired. Union leaders initially asked for 8% raises. By the time members went on strike, they were pushing for 5%.

During the eight-day stoppage, trash collection ceased. Garbage bags lined the city streets, temporary dump sites overflowed, and tensions between DC 33’s more than 9,000 blue-collar municipal workers and the city rose as union members, like N.B., took to the picket lines.

Then it was back to work. After eight days, the union and the city reached a three-year deal, which includes 3% annual wage increases, in the early hours of July 9. The contract was ratified Monday.

“July 1 came around, and we kind of got slapped in the face because we didn’t get nothing good,” N.B. said. “We just got told, you’ll continue to be underpaid for at least another three years.”

The Inquirer spoke with seven city employees represented by DC 33 in the days after the strike. The employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, expressed their frustrations with the Parker administration and what many viewed as a lackluster contract. They also provided a firsthand account of what it was like on the picket lines during the first major municipal city workers strike since 1986.

» READ MORE: DC 33 made concessions in 1992. Decades of resentment since led to Philadelphia’s recent city worker strike.

The union picket lines, workers said, were a notable exhibition of camaraderie in the city. Members stepped up as strike captains and held decorative signs. Some members stood on the lines, located from City Hall to the Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant, for hours in the blistering heat. Meanwhile, Philadelphians not involved with DC 33 were honking their horns in support, dropping off food, or asking if anyone was in need of a coffee run.

“Philly is a city, I think, for one, that loves, unifying our anger at somebody or something,” said a city employee of two years and a member of DC 33.

“It made me like have a respect and a love and an optimism for Philadelphia that I kind of have always had, but I felt it stronger,” said another DC 33 member, a Free Library employee.

Morale and energy among union members during the strike were high, workers who spoke to The Inquirer said. Tensions appeared to be equally high in some places across the city, however, as reports of slashed tires, open fire hydrants, and vandalism trickled in on the first day of the strike.

Heaps of garbage — dubbed by striking workers and allies as “Parker piles” — became the hallmark image of the strike, creating a logistical headache for residents and the mayor, but N.B. thought the ever-growing piles of trash were a “teachable moment” for the public to appreciate the work of the city’s sanitation workers and understand why they were demanding higher pay.

“That’s a normal day for me,” N.B. said.

When N.B. returned to their shift last week, the “sheer volume” of trash leftover — as city services dwindled during the strike — was overwhelming, heavy, and — at times — grotesque.

“It was more time-consuming because everything was covered in maggots,” N.B. said. “Instead of us just grabbing the bags, throwing them and flinging them, you have to watch how you carry them. Make sure they not touching your pants or your shirt.”

Others, while supportive of the strike, felt some semblance of relief in the routine of returning to work, interacting with the public, or collecting a paycheck.

“Thank God,” a municipal guard for the Free Library said, describing their reaction when the union had reached a tentative agreement with the city.

As Free Library branches resumed operations after the work stoppage, the guard said, the picket line and the strike still remained top of mind for employees.

“I guess we all had a lot to get off our chest about it. We all had our opinions on the situation,” the guard said, noting that during the strike “some days I feel like our voices were heard, the next day I feel like [they weren’t].”

Another employee, who has worked for the library for almost three years, said they were happy to serve patrons again, but noted workers felt “pretty disrespected” by the tentative deal.

As city workers returned to their jobs, they were faced with a decision that no DC 33 employee had to make in almost 40 years: whether or not to accept the strike-ending deal their union negotiated for them.

After a week of voting, roughly 64% of participating DC 33 members approved the tentative agreement. If members had voted it down, the union and the city would be back at the bargaining table and workers would not be able to receive the wage boosts outlined in the agreement. Now, they cannot go on strike for another three years.

The three-year deal includes annual wage increases of 3%, which was close to Parker’s original demands and fell short of the 5% DC 33 was striking for. It also offers a fifth step pay increase and a $1,500 bonus, and permits the union to maintain ownership of its health and welfare fund.

Parker said that the deal was “fair and fiscally responsible" and that she could personally identify with DC 33 workers. Meanwhile, the union’s president, Greg Boulware, dejectedly told reporters after the agreement was reached: “The strike is over and nobody’s happy. We felt our clock was running out.”

» READ MORE: ‘They are my people’: Mayor Cherelle Parker on why she stood firm in the DC 33 city worker strike

Most of the employees who spoke to The Inquirer had said they planned to vote against the agreement because they felt their work was being undervalued.

In total, more than 1,500 members voted to accept the new contract, while 838 voted against it. Roughly 6,625 members did not vote.

A six-year Philadelphia Parks and Recreation employee said they felt that DC 33’s workers deserved more than what was outlined in the tentative agreement and that “what we’ve been forced to vote on is not acceptable.”

The employee told The Inquirer they and their coworkers felt “so demoralized.” On the day they returned to their jobs at the parks after the tentative agreement was reached, it felt hard to begin working again, they said.

Then came lunchtime. The employee and their colleagues tuned into Parker’s televised news conference about the tentative contract. One coworker was visibly upset and cried, the employee said.

“We’re at work, but how can we reasonably return in good faith and progress the mission of our team, knowing everything that we know and knowing how we’ve been treated by administration and leadership?” the employee asked.

More than 9,000 city workers looked to Boulware and union leadership to guide them through the strike and the days leading up to it and afterward.

Though frustrated by a lower wage increase than they had hoped for, some workers said they believe Boulware, elected last year to lead the union, did the best he could and praised some elements of the union’s communication style. Other workers recognized that forces working against the union, including court injunctions filed by the city that forced more and more striking workers back to their jobs, created a tough situation for DC 33 leadership to maintain its leverage.

One DC 33 member said the union’s communication style during the strike was somewhat untraditional, with messaging spreading by word of mouth, which the member found to be effective.

But some workers were still surprised by the union’s decision-making. One said they were concerned by the lack of updates from leadership heading into the overnight negotiating session when the deal was reached and said “it seemed out of sync with what my experiences were on the ground,” given the high energy of the picket lines and their hope that the union would not agree to a wage below 5%.

The Philadelphia Parks and Recreation employee said they understood the 9,000-member strike was a “massive undertaking” but felt that communication from union leadership was lackluster. They noted DC 33 had two Zoom meetings leading up to the strike, but none during the work stoppage, and said leadership made other promises that were not fulfilled, such as providing transportation and full meals at the picket lines.

Boulware declined to comment.

With the contract officially approved and employees back to work, some in DC 33 say they are still frustrated over the outcome.

“Time will not heal this wound,” the parks and recreation employee said.

“The wound is not from the strike,” the employee said. “The wound is from the situation that caused the strike. Time will not heal this. A fair contract will.”