Philadelphia Garbage Strike Ends, but the Union Has Nothing to Show For It

Mayor Cherelle Parker announced early this morning that an agreement with the union had been reached and the work stoppage was over.

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— Mayor Cherelle L. Parker (@PhillyMayor) July 9, 2025

The union’s message was simpler:

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— afscme33 (@afscme33) July 9, 2025

Today would have been the 9th day of the strike and residents say the stench created by all the trash piled up is really bad.

Frankie Olivieri, the owner of Pat’s King of Steaks, one of Philadelphia’s venerable cheesesteak purveyors, said in an interview on Tuesday that the odor was so overpowering that he had gone to the beach for some fresh air.

“All big cities have a certain perfume to them in the summer time, people say,” Mr. Olivieri said. “But the smell is wafting down the streets as you turn up some streets and then you’re catching smells of household trash, which is really, really horrible.”…

Larry West, who lives a half-mile from one of the temporary trash collection sites, said in an interview on Tuesday that the dumpster there was overflowing onto the sidewalk and street. At first, he said, it was placed across from a school and playground. Then, it was moved across from where children go to summer camp, he said.

“It’s just horrific,” Mr. West said.

Initially, the union was calling for an 8% raise each year, but the deal signed this morning at 4am was nearly identical to the one they walked away from a week earlier. 

The deal is for a three-year contract with 3% raises each year — close to Parker’s demands throughout negotiations and far below the 5% annual increases Boulware went on strike for. The contract also includes the creation of a fifth step in the union pay scale, which will likely boost wages by approximately 2% for veteran DC 33 members.

“The strike is over, and nobody’s happy,” a dejected Boulware said in an interview as he exited negotiations. “We felt our clock was running out.”…

It appears to have initially been a tough sell for some DC 33 leaders. Members of the executive board could be heard raising their voices at each other before the final vote. One took a phone call in the hallway and expressed frustration with what the union got in the contract after eight days out on strike.

“These people are going to be pissed because they’re going to feel like they took us out for nothing,” the person said. “I’m telling you that s — is going to come back to bite us.”

The union still has to vote to approve the new deal. In theory they could say no and force more negotiations but it sounds like it’s just a formality and no one is expecting any more drama at this point. It’s over and the union caved.

Mayor Parker held a press conference celebrating the end of the strike but the union guys didn’t even show up for it. From my perspective, it’s always a win when cities don’t cave to labor demands, especially those backed by a strike. But Mayor Parker is a Democrat so this could come back to hurt her in future elections. And despite union workers returning to work today, regular trash pick won’t resume until Monday. So it’s probably going to be some time before all the backlog of trash in the streets can be cleared.

Finally, I couldn’t help notice these comments on the NY Times story about the strike.

Philadelphia’s trash collection problem will soon be resolved, but there’s  a much bigger garbage-in-the-streets problem that no one addresses:  When I moved back a decade ago, I couldn’t believe the amount of discarded litter and food trash on the sidewalks and in the streets — and the people of every age and description who casually dropped it there.  We picked an unimaginable variety of often sickening items — ranging from sticky, rotting food and spilled drinks to used personal products — from our plants and sidewalk almost every day.  If the streets of Philly any indication of hometown pride, then my birthplace no longer has any.

Someone else responded with this story.

I cleaned my block in South Philly with contractors bags, taking all afternoon. My across the street neighbor was out of the stoop eating with her kids. 

She effused about what a great thing I was doing and God bless me and all that and then she chucked her refuse, wrappers and bones right off her steps onto the sidewalk I just cleaned.

I like this person. She’s a nice lady and a decent enough neighbor and Mom. I have no idea what she was thinking.

One more:

I’m a dem and super pro union. However, Philly is the poster child for out of control unions and graft killing  a city. Its like a fox news fever dream