Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and AFSCME District Council 33 couldn't agree on a new contract.
AFSCME District Council 33 represents a wide swath of city employees who perform manual labor and skilled trades. Known colloquially as DC 33, its members hold jobs in a variety of city agencies, including in the streets, sanitation, and parks and recreation departments, as well as in corrections and the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
DC 33 workers include police dispatchers, trash collectors, water treatment plant operators, and others. Though it is the largest city workers union, it is also the lowest-paid of Philadelphia’s four major municipal unions, with members earning about $46,000 a year on average. It is also the only union of the big four in which a majority of its members are Black, The Inquirer previously reported. Historically, DC 33 has played a key role in city politics, including during the adoption of the Home Rule Charter, which essentially serves as the city’s version of the Constitution, in the 1950s. Its internal politics are also fiery, owing to a factional power struggle that has been playing out since the 1990s. Boulware won his position as union president last year following an intense leadership battle and is associated with a faction of the union that has been at odds with Parker since her run for mayor in 2023. He has vowed to win major compensation increases for the union’s members, and last year fought Parker for months over the mayor’s push for unions to sign one-year contract extensions instead of multiyear deals. — Nick Vadala
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