The Philadelphia union workers strike finally ended after reaching an agreement with city officials.
According to CNN, the union of Philadelphia city workers on the ninth day of strike on Wednesday, July 9, reached a deal.
Around 10,000 blue-collar employees from District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees halted operations from July 1 and stopped trash collection and other city services over disagreement of the pay and benefits.
Mayor Cherelle Parker, announcing the end of the strike and agreement on social media, said, “The work stoppage involving the District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia is OVER.”
“We have reached a tentative agreement with District Council 33, which must be ratified by its membership on a new three-year contract that, coupled with the one-year contract extension we agreed to last fall, will increase DC 33 members’ pay by 14 percent over my four years in office,” she added.
As per the new deal, union workers will get a total of 14% in raises over 3 years. Previously the workers only got a 5% raise, 9% less than the recent deal.
The union also posted on Facebook, “The strike is over! Details forthcoming.”
Notably, District Council 33 is the largest union of the city workers that represent trash collectors, the water department, 911 dispatchers, and other workers. However, police and firefighters did not join the strike.
