Judge denies injunction over Mayor Cherelle Parker's back to work order

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia city employees still working from home or in a hybrid capacity are being ordered back to work by a judge's order.

A second day of testimony over Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s return to office order produced the decision Friday. The judge rejected the argument made by the lawyers for the union that there should be an injunction to stop the remaining city employees from returning to work.

Senior staff were first ordered back to the office in February. Then last week, a city workers’ union filed a lawsuit against the Parker Administration for workers expected to return Monday.

In a City Hall courtroom, the white-collar city workers’ union tried to convince a judge she should stall Mayor Parker’s plan to bring all city workers back to the office by Monday.

The union believed they had a right to negotiate the mayor’s goal to get everybody back to work. Thursday and Friday, in court, there have been detailed and long hearings over whether a Common Pleas Court judge would put an injunction in place that would stop the final 4,500, or so, city workers from having to come back to work Monday.

Union leader David Wilson stated, prior to the decision, "We engaged in the process of bargaining. I don’t think that’s ever been clearer."

On the other side, a team of city lawyers argued that Philadelphia has the right to pull some 4,500 workers back to the office without having to bargain with the union.

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Late Friday afternoon, the judge found on the side of the city, denying the staffers their desired right to work from home or a hybrid form.

The union says the Parker Administration has not heard the last of the subject.

"We are disappointed," stated President of District Council 47 April Giggets. "I think we were able to demonstrate the harm, the burden. We had lots of discussions, a lot of interviews."

The union argued the order creates a hardship for workers with childcare needs and says many of their members will now leave the city work force.

"We are hoping we can start tracking it," Giggets continued. "This is gonna have a devastating impact. Some people may leave right away. Some people might wait until they get employment. We know it’s gonna happen. To what extent, we don’t know."

The union says they were already bargaining on the issue and that it will impact how the union and the Parker Administration will interact.

The Parker Administration considers it a win. Chief Administrative Officer, Camille Duchaussee, made this comment regarding the outcome, "Mayor Parker promised the city that they would have a government that they can see, touch and feel. She promised measurable results. She promised to make the City of Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, greenest city in the nation, with economic opportunity for all. This is a giant step toward realizing those promises."

After the decision, Mayor Parker released a statement, saying:

"I promised the City that they would have a government they could see, touch and feel. I promised to make our City the safest, cleanest and greenest big city in America, with access to economic opportunity for all.  This ruling gets our city one giant step closer to delivering on that promise. I want every member of our workforce to know: I'm a pro-Union, pro-worker Mayor, and I thank you for all your service every day to make Philadelphia better."