PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Cherelle Parker struck a one-year contract extension with its largest employee union, AFSCME District Council 33, Friday night. The union voted to authorize a strike last week if its demands for better wages weren't met.
The deal includes a 5% wage increase and a one-time $1,400 bonus for workers. This is the union's highest pay increase in more than 30 years.
But it's only a temporary reprieve for the mayor, who said alongside DC33 leadership that they would be back at the negotiating table in January to hammer out a multi-year deal.
Parker says this deal will only bring the city closer to economic access for all.
“We're doing our best to make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest and greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all,” she said. “And as mayor, I am absolutely positively clear that that vision cannot be a reality if we don't have the men and women who are part of the City of Philadelphia's municipal workforce.”
DC33 initially submitted a proposal for a four-year deal in August, not long after its contract had expired.
This is the second one-year extension Parker has signed with a union representing city workers. In September, the administration agreed to a one-year extension with its white-collar workers union, AFSCME District Council 47. That also included a salary increase and a one-time $1,400 bonus.