Philadelphia’s largest union reaches agreement with city, averting strike

PHILADELPHIA - The largest municipal employee union in Philadelphia, AFSCME District Council 33, confirms they have reached an agreement with the City of Philadelphia, averting an authorized strike.

Friday night, President Greg Boulware, confirmed to FOX 29’s Steve Keeley a one-year agreement was reached with the city for a five percent raise for workers.

November 14th, the union, comprised of nearly 9,000 members, voted to strike at any time.

A walkout would have put the city employees, from sanitation and water workers to 911 dispatchers, on the picket line. They said they were asking the city for "a fair and amicable contract."

The new contract will be for fiscal year 2025 also offers a one-time bonus of $1,400 and other benefits, on top of the five percent wage increase.

This will be the highest pay increase for the union in 30 years.

"This increase is truly historic. The members of District Council 33 have not received a pay increase of this magnitude, for the record, of this magnitude in over 30 years," Mayor Cherelle Parker stated.

In a news conference Friday night, Mayor Cherelle Parker vowed to continue negotiations with the union to reach a multi-year contract for the future.

"This is a great city. However, escalating costs to live in this city are going up astronomically and so we needed to make sure we advocated for our people in a way that allowed them to continue to live and thrive in this city," President District Council 33 explained. "By establishing this one-year agreement we took a step in that direction to allow that to happen."