AFSCME DC 33 members approve contract agreement with city following eight-day strike

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 have voted to approve the tentative contract agreement union leaders negotiated with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration earlier this month, eliminating the possibility of a city worker strike resuming this year.

According to results the union released Monday, 1,535 members voted to accept the deal — roughly 64% of the votes cast — while 838 voted against it. Two ballots were “void.” Voting took place over a week.

The vote ends one of the most dramatic moments in recent Philadelphia labor history, and decisions by union leaders are likely to be analyzed for years. Additionally, scenes from the eight-day strike — with heaps of trash in “Parker piles” across the city — are sure to be lasting images, and it’s unclear how the dispute will affect the mayor’s ability to enact her agenda, given that much of the city’s workforce has so publicly butted heads with her administration.

But the ratification of the contract means that DC 33 is legally prohibited from going on strike for at least the next three years, when a new deal must be negotiated. If Parker runs for and wins reelection, that would be during the start of her second term.

DC 33 president Greg Boulware declined an interview request Monday, but said in a message posted to social media alongside the results: “Thanks to every member who made their voice heard in the ratification vote. The results have been certified by the American Arbitration Association, and we’ve informed the City to start issuing bonuses.”

“Together we made this happen,” Boulware wrote.

A spokesperson for Parker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vote took place over seven days from July 14 to July 20. Members were able to vote in-person at the AFSCME DC 33 headquarters in West Philadelphia.

Members will now receive 3% annual wage increases for the next three years and a $1,500 bonus. The contract also establishes a fifth pay-scale step for most DC 33 members, and a third pay-scale step for school crossing guards in the union.

The contract applies retroactively to July 1.

If members had rejected the tentative agreement, the union and the administration would have headed back to the bargaining table, and workers would not have been able to benefit from the negotiated wage boosts. At that point, union leaders would have been authorized to call for the strike to resume, but they would not have been required to do so.

Other key points of the contract include a continuation of the structure of how the city pays into DC 33’s Health & Welfare fund. The administration this year sought a change allowing it to pay directly for the cost of claims, rather than making flat monthly contributions. The union wanted to preserve the structure and have the city increase its monthly contribution. The final deal instead preserves the status quo, with the city continuing to pay $1,500 per employee per month to the fund.

Members will also be able to take six uncertified sick days (up from five) in a 12-month period before being placed on an excessive sick leave list. City employees in DC 33 will also be able to take four days of leave for the death of a close family member, and one day of leave in the event of the death of other family members.

As members weighed in over the past week, Boulware did not make a recommendation to members about how to vote. He told reporters recently: “Their ask to me was to go up, stand up and fight and try to get as much as we could get out of this — and we did accomplish quite a bit — but if they feel like it’s unsatisfactory to their needs, then they have that voice to be able to say so."

The last time DC 33 members had to determine whether to accept a strike-ending deal was in 1986. On Aug. 3, 1986, only 300 of 12,884 members were present at the Civic Center to vote on the contract, according to newspaper accounts. It was ultimately approved, but many workers at that time were unhappy with the deal or how it was negotiated.

Francis Ryan, a Rutgers University labor historian who has written a book on DC 33, said he wasn’t surprised members voted to approve the deal, even if many were disappointed with the agreement that Boulware and Parker negotiated to end the strike.

“A lot of people don’t like it, but I think it’s a realistic thing to do,” Ryan said.

DC 33 members, he said, weren’t voting on whether they liked the contract. Instead, it was a choice between accepting the contract or reentering negotiations and potentially going back out on strike — a decision that might not enjoy as much public support as it did the first time.

“The momentum of the strike that we saw earlier in the month has gone away,” he said. “It’s very difficult to get that momentum back right now.”