Philadelphia’s largest municipal employee union has reached a one-year contract agreement with the city, union officials announced during a news conference Friday evening.
“We figured out how to get the yes word and I’m very proud of that,” said Mayor Cherelle Parker.
AFSCME District Council 33 President Greg Boulware signed the one-year extension with the City of Philadelphia. During the press conference, Boulware said the extension provides members with a pay increase that would help improve the quality of life for their employees.
They approved a strike permit on November 14.
According to the mayor’s office, the contract is for fiscal year 2025 and includes a 5% salary increase, a one-time $1,400 bonus and other benefits.
However, this does not mean that the union or the city is withdrawing from the bargaining table. Boulware described the expansion as a “stepping stone in the direction our members would like to be in.”
“We work hard and give ourselves, our minds and our souls to the city of Philadelphia because we love it,” Boulware said. “We are Philadelphia from every corner of this city. So no one knows it like we do and no one works like us.”
“I want to commend you for your fight. That’s what a union leader is supposed to do,” Parker said. “You pushed, and you pushed, and you pushed the table.”
District Council 33 negotiated on behalf of more than 8,400 municipal employees in Philadelphia streets, sanitation and water departments, and police departments, among others.
“Philadelphia continues to work because the members of District Council 33 do,” Boulware said. “We will continue to do that. And continue to improve the lives of our members of District Council 33, who we repeatedly say are Philadelphia. We don’t just work for Philadelphia, we are Philadelphia.”
Boulware said District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia will continue to work on a long-term agreement that will provide some security for union workers for years to come. The journey to the long-term agreement is expected to begin in January 2025, Boulware said.
“This is the beginning,” Parker said. “If we remain at the table, as mayor I have wholeheartedly committed to reaching a multi-year agreement.”
