PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In three weeks, all Philadelphia city workers are expected to be at work, in-person, five days a week. But resistance from both workers and City Council members was evident at a hearing last week.
Hundreds of city workers packed the chamber for the hearing before Council’s Labor and Civil Service Committee.
Chief Administrative Officer Camille Duchaussee was less than two minutes into her testimony, defending Mayor Cherelle Parker’s back-to-work order — “The decision to return the full workforce to in-person reflects a strategic investment in cultivating a work environment that thrives on teamwork, creativity and shared purpose, serving the residents of Philadelphia” — before she was drowned out by boos from workers who would be affected.
“That’s going to happen a lot, yeah,” Duchaussee said. And it did — both the heckling, as she explained the reasoning behind the decision; and the cheering, when Council members asked pointed questions.
“Why was the decision made to do this on July 15, in the middle of the summer?” asked Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, to a chorus of cheers.
Duchaussee told the Labor Committee that the mayor’s decision to return the entire workforce by that date is in keeping with her promise to residents: “Creating a government that people can see, touch and feel. Establishing the work location as an in-office requirement is an intentional decision aimed at optimizing conversation, collaboration and productivity in city departments.”
But every member of the committee expressed skepticism — whether because of the inconvenience to workers, the lack of space for them or the impact on recruiting. The committee, however, did not challenge the mayor’s authority to make the call.
The unions maintain that the issue needs to be negotiated, not decided unilaterally. Union leader David Wilson told the committee the mayor’s actions violate labor law.
“We are here because this topic is a negotiated and bargained topic. It’s not something that can be unilaterally removed,” Wilson said.
The Parker administration strongly disagrees. Duchausee said the order affects about 4,000 members of the city’s 26,000-person workforce. The rest are already back in person or never had the option of remote or hybrid work.
Some committee members said they’d support a union challenge to the decision, but the hearing itself was strictly symbolic. Council has not introduced any legislation to oppose the move — and administration officials say the mayor is unlikely to change her mind.