Unlucky number 7: Philly municipal worker strike prepares to enter second week

And on the seventh day, the strike continued. 

In Philadelphia, where municipal workers, including the sanitation department, are on strike, city officials are looking to mend relations with District Council 33 while residents are dealing with drop-off sites and trash piling up on sidewalks. 

And with contract negotiations continuing through the holiday weekend, the situation in the city is becoming messier by the second. 

Mayor Cherelle Parker announced last Monday that amid an ongoing strike, the city’s trash collection, among other services, would operate in a “modified capacity.” 

The modified capacity includes what Parker has termed an ongoing “pause” in collecting residential curbside trash and recycling collection that began last Tuesday and the creation of more than 60 temporary drop-off locations throughout the city. She added that the temporary trash drop-off locations would be regularly monitored and, should a work stoppage linger, additional dumpsters and locations would be made available to residents.

A week later, with Fourth of July celebrations and events adding onto the “Parker piles,” as some residents have taken to calling the trash-filled sidewalks, the strike continues to demonstrate the impact that sanitation workers have on everyday life in Philadelphia. 

The strike also led the city to file court injunctions to bring some employees back to work and to bar striking sanitation workers from gathering in groups of more than eight, standing within 10 feet of city property – including sanitation centers – or engaging in behavior deemed intimidating or harassing.

As of Monday afternoon, there was still no solution in sight. 

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Parker administration and union leaders have held only two formal negotiating sessions since the work stoppage began last Tuesday, and a third wouldn’t occur until this Tuesday at the earliest. This comes after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement during Saturday’s round of negotiations. 

Union leaders have held firm on their demand for 5% annual raises over a three-year period. Parker’s last publicly known contract offer was a three-year deal with annual raises of 2.75%, 3% and 3% – a combined 8.75% raise over the three years. 

Monday afternoon, the Parker administration provided updates on the city’s cleanup efforts, with Carlton Williams, director of Clean and Green Initiatives, saying the “supplemental” services will seek to reduce the waste pileup while contract negotiations continue. 

Williams encouraged residents to utilize dumpsters and not place trash outside of them.

“We’ve had numerous reports of people taking advantage of these dump sites,” he said, adding that private businesses and contractors should be legally disposing of their trash instead of using the resident dump sites.  

“We’re bringing in additional resources to be able to move trash piles with heavy equipment, and once we maintain that area, we’ll staff it and secure additional capacity so it doesn’t get in that condition again,” Williams said, addressing the large trash piles covering blocks like 50th Street and Wyalusing Avenue. “The illegal dumping at that location is causing that problem to exacerbate and we need to address that issue.”