Mayor: Philadelphia city workers’ strike ends with 14% salary increase

July 9 (UPI) — The city workers’ strike in Philadelphia is set to end after the city and the union reached a tentative agreement, Mayor Cherelle Parker announced early Wednesday morning.

Parker announced on social media that the “work stoppage involving District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia is OVER.”

The agreement adds to the one-year agreement made last fall, and it will “increase DC33 members’ pay by 14% over my four years in office,” Parker’s statement said.

The tentative agreement must still be ratified by union members.

The workers, who are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33, have been on strike for eight days, and garbage has piled up in the city. The strike began July 1 when the city refused the union’s request for 15% raises over the next year. The union includes about 9,000 city workers.

While Parker called the agreement a win, Greg Boulware said he was still not pleased.

“The City of Philadelphia has to do better by its members, has to put the members and the workers who handle all the essential functions as a priority in this city,” he said Wednesday. “I don’t feel like that has been done.”

This is the first strike for this union since 1986.

Earlier, a local judge ordered dispatchers from Philadelphia International Airport to return to work to keep the airport safe. A judge also ordered workers at the city’s 911 dispatch and Medical Examiner’s office back to work.

The striking workers should return to work today, but the city hasn’t offered details about how it plans to clean up the growing trash crisis.

The mayor said the city will offer more information tomorrow, and that “we’re valuing our workforce and we’re safeguarding our city’s hard-earned fiscal stability at the same time. The strike is over!”