Blue City Abundance: Philadelphia is Covered in Garbage

I’m pretty sure this is not what Ezra Klein had in mind when he wrote a book about making blue cities into places of abundance. There’s definitely an abundance in deep blue Philadelphia right now, but it’s an abundance of uncollected garbage. City workers have been on strike for a week and the trash keeps piling up.

Mounds of trash continued to overwhelm streets in Philadelphia on Monday as contract talks between the city and District Council 33 remain at a standstill.

As of midday Monday, the two sides had no plans to reconvene on contract negotiations that began when union members went on strike last Tuesday…

Mayor Parker has continued to tout the city’s latest offer, which she calls “historic” and “fiscally responsible.”

She may be right about that but at this moment no one seems to care.

Mayor Cherelle Parker isn’t exactly at her height of popularity right now. We’re almost a full week into the big Philadelphia strike, and there’s no end in sight. There are massive piles of garbage growing all over the city. LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan dropped out of our Fourth of July festivities in solidarity with the union. And most everybody seems to be blaming Mayor Parker for all of this muck and mayhem. So it’s not the least bit surprising that I’ve seen suggestions out there on social media that we should recall, a.k.a. fire, Mayor Parker. But it can’t be done…

Firing the mayor wouldn’t fix anything. The real problem are the unions using mountains of uncollected trash as a negotiating tactic. Some of those mounds of trash are even being set on fire in an apparently attempt to get rid of the trash.

A large trash fire erupted in the 5000 block of Wyalusing Avenue in West Philadelphia just before 3 a.m. Sunday.

“They tried to set it on fire and I’m trying to figure out what is the point of that? You’re going to set it on fire to do what? It’s not going anywhere, it’s going to still be here. They’ll come dump it the next day,” said Randall Pressley, who lives a few houses down from the site.

Pressley says people are taking advantage of the temporary city drop-off site. Instead of dumping trash bags, people and workers are dumping construction items, couches and other large materials.

Lots of videos on X showing what this looks like. It has been 90 degrees in Philly lately. You can almost smell it through the screen.

4th of July in Philadelphia. Trash on C Street and Allegheny Avenue #philly #philadelphia #hereweare #usa #breakingnews #strike #trash #4thofjuly #america #union pic.twitter.com/1tttS7SYZi

— The Philly Captain (@philly_captain) July 4, 2025

This guy wore a gas mask.

PHILADELPHIA – July 7, the strike continues

A resident donned a gas mask to drop off a bag of trash at Richmond and Indiana Ave. in Philadelphia during day 3 of a municipal workers strike July 3, 2025.

(Photo: Kimberly Paynter/WHYY) pic.twitter.com/pjVDMVrdpg

— Kirk de Gooyer (@kirkdegooyer) July 7, 2025

What’s coming next? Rats and roaches. This is a smorgasbord for them. In a few weeks the city will be overrun.

The Democratic Communist Party of America wants you living in trash!

Philly’s trash piles up on day 2 of a sanitation strike after Mayor Parker passed a pay raise for herself but rejected one for workers. pic.twitter.com/IBf18inKt0

— caffeinatednyc (@caffeinatednyc) July 3, 2025

Lots of videos with people saying some version of “give them their money” but Mayor Parker seems to think the city has limits to what it can afford. She’s pushing back saying she doesn’t care if she’s a one-term mayor. She can’t bankrupt the city to meet the demands of city workers.

Pay these workers in Philadelphia, this is ridiculous. I can’t imagine the smell already in the city!

Mayor Cherelle Parker of Philly seems pissed and a bit unhinged.#Philadelphia #Philly #AFSCME #DC33 #Strike #July4th #CherelleParker #trash pic.twitter.com/XDo8YamaFv

— Rick (@Rick_LifeCoach) July 4, 2025

The unionists are doing everything they can to make this as bad as possible. Here they are blockading the entrance to a city dump that is supposed to be open.

What was it like during the second day of the trash strike in Philly? A lot of garbage y’all. Even at the city dump that was supposed to be open. Gates were locked. Picketers outside. Tense moments between union and law enforcement. Neighbors stuck in the middle. pic.twitter.com/Ycja9j2J1f

— Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza (@k_mosbrucker) July 3, 2025

One person said they were taking trash in their car to the dump for $25 a load and the union jumped on them saying it was scab work.

this is scabbing btw and is a pretty bad look tbh https://t.co/lCAkU5Ke4g

— Philly AFL-CIO (@PhillyAFLCIO) July 7, 2025

This is what the union wants to see:

🚨 PHILLY IS DROWNING IN TRASH – ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND

A city-wide sanitation strike has turned Philadelphia into a dump.
Garbage is piled up on every corner, rotting in the summer heat.

Tourists. Families. Kids playing near mountains of waste.
No pickups. No plan. No… pic.twitter.com/PBFap9a4SM

— HustleBitch (@HustleBitch_) July 5, 2025

So, what’s the solution? Remember when Joe Biden called Trump supporters “garbage” and Trump responded by taking a seat in a garbage truck at his next public appearance? That came to mind when I read about this story.

Personally, I’d love to see President Trump send a small army of trash trucks to clean up the city. That would end the union’s leverage and maybe some residents would have second thoughts about who really wants the best for their city. 

Bottom line, unions shouldn’t be able to hold an entire city hostage to their financial demands using threats that make the city unlivable for people. The union shouldn’t be rewarded for this behavior.