PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Cherelle Parker pleaded with striking blue-collar city employees to return to work on Day 3 of the AFSCME District Council 33 strike, as the city stares down a planned annual Fourth of July Celebration without the help of sanitation workers and other support staff.
"Men and women, we want you back at work. You can come back to the table. We can negotiate and get this deal done," Parker said at a Thursday press briefing from the Art Museum steps.
With no further talks planned before July 4, the strike will now stretch through the holiday.
Some workers did return to work Thursday afternoon after the city won another court injunction to force those from the Medical Examiner's Office back to work. However, officials said the city is struggling to keep up with the amount of trash being brought to the various collection centers set up across the city.
On Thursday, the city came by Broad and Snyder to clear the overwhelmed dumpsters at Broad and Snyder. One corner store employee told KYW Newsradio he was relieved to finally see the trash cleared.
"It was horrible since yesterday, people started putting their trash bags in the street," he said.
William Giordano was at the 10th and Bigler dump site in South Philly as a non-union contractor clearing the dumpsters and helping residents throw out their trash.
"You get a lot of older people, older couples coming out to us, and they can't reach six feet up on a dumpster. It's not feasible," he said.
Giordano said he hasn't had any trouble with the union and supports them. He said he and his fellow non-union contractors aren't scabs, but just helping keep the road clear. He said they're contracted to be there from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, but won’t be there over the holiday weekend. If things don’t change, Giordano expects a terrible mess when they return next week.
City Solicitor Renee Garcia laid part of the difficulty at the feet of union members she said on Thursday are still violating an earlier court injunction that blocks them from blocking city facilities.
"What we are seeing again are slashed tires on trash trucks. We are seeing personal cars blocking those trash trucks in," she said. "Not only is this illegal, but it’s severely limiting our ability to pick up the trash in Philadelphia."
The complaints were a repeat of those stated in a press briefing on Wednesday — Day 2 of the AFSCME District Council 33 strike. Garcia said disruptive and even dangerous incidents were reported across the city, despite the injunction.
“Jammed locks at health centers. We couldn’t get our doctors into the health centers,” she said. “Opening fire hydrants, preventing trash drop-offs. We have residents going to drop off trash and they’re getting harassed on their way.
“At one location where we had employees locked inside, they turned off the water from outside and then parked a vehicle over the valve. This is not legal activity.”
Garcia said some workers broke into one collection center, took trash from a dumpster and threw it around the site.
“Now we’re beyond disrespectful,” she added. “This is disgraceful. It is illegal and it needs to stop now.”
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DC 33 President Greg Boulware said blaming the union for those incidents is not “getting us anywhere.”
“To insinuate that it’s members of District Council 33 doing these destructive acts is inflammatory,” he said. “We have no idea who’s committing these acts of violence.
“I’m not aware of those types of things. I certainly don’t condone them, so I think the city is just adding insult to injury right now.”
Boulware did acknowledge that a man arrested on the first day of the strike for allegedly slashing tires is a former union official.
The Philadelphia Police Department said it is investigating other potential incidents and will make arrests if warranted.
Contract talks
The union and city officials returned to the bargaining table on Wednesday, but no progress was made. Trash piled up in heaps across the city as the strike entered its third day. No new talks are scheduled.
Meanwhile, Mayor Cherelle Parker got a vote of confidence from Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday. At an appearance in Philadelphia, he said the state is doing what it can to help resolve the strike.
“Mediators from the state are involved in this, trying to find a resolution,” he said. “I’ve communicated with the mayor multiple times. I know she has put an aggressive package on the table, the best package that’s been put on the table in decades.”
State representatives from the city are not as supportive of the mayor’s offer. Malcolm Kenyatta, Tarik Khan and Ben Waxman have vocally shown support for the union, as have several City Council members.
At a recent strike update, Parker said she thought their expressions of solidarity were “nice,” but she seemed a bit annoyed.
“Anyone who has a seat at an elected table, I would hope that they would use their solidarity as leverage to bring some tangible resources home that we could add to the package that we put on the table to offer District Council 33, respectfully,” she said.
The mayor has offered nearly 9% in raises over three years. The union is seeking twice that.
July Fourth impact
The strike will stretch into the July Fourth holiday weekend — usually the biggest tourism weekend of the summer. City officials are promising the party will go on.
“Don’t you dare decide you are not coming to Philadelphia,” Parker said, assuring the strike will not affect the marquis Fourth of July events that begin at 10 a.m. with the Celebration of Freedom Festival at Independence Hall. After that, a parade, then the concert and fireworks show on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
City Representative Jazelle Jones said the city is fully prepared, the strike notwithstanding.
“You don’t have to get ready when you stay ready,” she said.
Jones does concede that clean-up will be a challenge without sanitation workers on the job. “It’ll be a little longer than normal, but I assure you it will have been worth every moment that you spend with us on the Parkway.”
On Thursday, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel the strike will not impact the safety of the Independence Day festivities.
"We are very, very skilled at putting on large scale events," he said. "We have four major events that will be occurring. We’ll have a large, large number of men and women down at the Art Museum and throughout Center City to address any issue."
Parker urged visitors and residents to keep their July 4 plans, and addressed remarks directly to members of District Council 33, noting that if the strike ends, they could make double time for working the holiday.