Philadelphia workers and city reach a deal to end strike that halted residential trash pickup

PHILADELPHIA AP A union representing thousands of city workers in Philadelphia and the city have reached a deal to end a more than weeklong strike that halted residential curbside trash pickup and affected other services executives declared Wednesday Nearly blue-collar employees from District Council of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees had walked off the job July seeking better pay and benefits after failing to agree with the city on a new contract The tentative agreement was reported on what would have been the ninth day of the strike That period which included the Fourth of July holiday weekend created a backlog of trash Several drop-off centers were overflowing Mayor Cherelle Parker communicated the end of the strike and the agreement with the union on social media The work stoppage involving the District Council and the City of Philadelphia is OVER she posted We have reached a tentative agreement with District Council 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 members pay by percent over my four years in office Parker reported we ll have much more to say about this historic deal at City Hall District Council is the largest of four major unions representing city workers Its membership includes dispatchers trash collectors water department workers and several others Police and firefighters weren t part of the strike Last week judges had sided with the city in ordering various critical employees back to work at the city s centers water department and airport The strike is over Details forthcoming the union posted on Facebook Wednesday morning Union President Greg Boulware briefly spoke with reporters after the deal was reached We did the best we could with the circumstances we had in front of us he revealed The city had designated about sites as drop-off centers for residential trash but specific were overflowing while striking workers on hand questioned residents not to cross the picket line Majority libraries across the city are were closed with aid workers and safety guards off the job