Philadelphia Union Reaches Deal With City to End Trash Strike

The strike had gone on for more than a week.

Trash piles up around dumpsters in Philadelphia as thousands of city workers remained on strike on July 7, 2025. AP/Tassanee Vejpongsa

Philadelphia city officials have entered into a tentative deal with a union representing thousands of city workers to end a strike that lasted more than a week and caused trash to pile up, Mayor Cherelle Parker announced early on July 9.

Nearly 10,000 blue-collar employees from District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees walked off the job on July 1, seeking higher pay and improved benefits after failing to agree with the city on a new contract.

The tentative three-year agreement was announced on what would have been the ninth day of the strike.

Parker said in a post on social media platform X that the deal was “good news” not just for union members but for “every tax-paying resident and business in Philadelphia.”

“We have reached a tentative agreement with District Council 33, which must be ratified by its membership on a new three-year contract that, coupled with the one-year contract extension we agreed to last fall, will increase DC 33 members’ pay by 14 percent over my four years in office,” she said.

It is not clear when union members will return to work, although Parker said in the post that her office “will have much more to say about this historic deal [on July 10] at City Hall.”

“We’re valuing our workforce, and we’re safeguarding our city’s hard-earned fiscal stability at the same time,” Parker said.

District Council 33 is the largest of four major unions representing city workers.

Its members include sanitation workers, librarians, trash collectors, water treatment employees, and 911 dispatchers, although a Philadelphia judge on July 1 ordered many of the dispatchers to return to work, saying their absence creates a “clear and present danger.”

Judge Sierra Thomas-Street’s order did not prevent those workers—32 fire dispatchers, five supervisors, and 200 police dispatchers—from participating in the strike during off-duty hours. 

Thomas-Street also ordered some water department workers to return to work because of their essential role in ensuring fresh, clean drinking water.

District Council 33 had been seeking an 8 percent pay increase every year until 2027 as part of what it said were efforts to prevent its members from “falling further behind” because of inflation and the higher cost of living.

The union had also proposed improved health and welfare benefits and a “pandemic bonus” of $5,000 for workers to reflect the “valiant and faithful efforts” of those who had stayed on the job throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in the “face of constant threats to their health and safety.”

“Performing hundreds of different jobs, our members all contribute equally to the varied services provided the citizens of the City,” the union stated. “Our work is diverse, and each and every job fills a vital role in serving the public. And our responsibilities are just as valuable and no less important than the jobs done by the members of the other City Unions. All of our work, in equal ways, benefits the City and the public we serve. Our contract should reflect that reality.”

Parker had offered District Council 33 more than 12 percent in raises over four years, saying in a video on Facebook that it would, should the workers choose to accept it, be the “highest one-year pay increase that the union has received in over 30 years.”

Philadelphia had designated about 60 temporary sites as drop-off centers for residential trash as the strike played out, bringing trash collection to a complete halt.

“The strike is over! Details forthcoming,” the union posted on Facebook on the morning of July 9.

The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for District Council 33 for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.