PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — One day after reaching a contract agreement with the city’s white collar workers union, AFSCME District Council 47, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has provided new details about the deal. She said the deals with DC 47 and its blue collar counterpart District Council 33 are a balancing act between how much she values the city’s workers and how much the city can afford to pay them.
Parker said the three-year contract, with 8 1/2% in raises and a $1,250 signing bonus, was the middle ground between those two goals. “If Cherelle Parker, the lifelong Philadelphian, had her way, I’d give everybody 10% across the board for every year,” she said.
The union represents about 6,000 government employees, including librarians, social workers, and staffers with the Philadelphia Parking Authority, Philadelphia Housing Authority, and other agencies.
The mayor explained that despite her professed passion for labor, she kept raises down to 2 1/2% the first year and 3% each year after that because higher increases could force layoffs down the road to keep the budget balanced.
“We will not lay off members of our valuable city workforce,” she said, “because we have an agenda and you can’t enact safe, clean and green with economic opportunity for all without all of the men and women who make up the municipal workforce.”
According to Parker, the deal with DC 47 includes an increase in the city’s obligation to the members’ health care. Chief negotiator Sincere Harris said it also includes a more favorable rate for longevity pay.
“That rewards the workers who stay five, ten, 15 years,” said Harris. “We are investing in them in a significant way.”
DC 47 did not respond to requests for comment. The city said the total cost of the package is $92 million dollars over five years. However, the city won’t have the same leeway with the next two contracts. The two remaining unions Parker has to settle with are police and fire, whose contracts are decided by arbitrators.
Typically, arbitrators give the uniformed unions more than the white and blue collar workers get and the city has no control over how much more. Parker put $550 million dollars in a labor reserve fund. After the DC33 and 47 contracts, there’s about $340 million left. But arbitrators are not bound by that number. The city could appeal a decision. Police and firefighters are barred from striking.
The Fraternal Order of Police is currently in arbitration. Firefighters expect to begin arbitration in September.