July 21, 2025
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
District Council 33, Philadelphia's largest union, voted to ratify its deal with the city on Monday. Above, members earlier this month on the picket line during their strike, which lasted over a week.
After a weeklong voting process, the union for blue-collar municipal workers approved its contract agreement with the city on Monday afternoon.
According to the results, which were ratified by the American Arbitration Association, nearly two-thirds of voting members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33 agreed to the new deal, ending a monthslong negotiation process that resulted in a strike of Philadelphia's largest union.
DC 33, which represents over 9,000 municipal workers, participated in a work stoppage that lasted over a week. Trash collectors, librarians, 911 dispatchers and others were part of the union's first strike since 1986, which concluded before dawn on July 9 after the bargaining unit and the city reached a tentative deal.
Included in the ratified deal is an annual 3% raise for union members over the next three years and a one-time, $1,500 bonus for employees in their first year. The deal will cost the city $115 million over five years. The terms needed to be approved by the union's members during a ratification vote before being officially enacted.
According to DC 33, 2,375 votes were counted, with 1,535 members voting "yes" to ratify the contract, 838 voting "no" and two declining to vote.
Leading up to Monday's tallying, there were concerns members could vote against the contract because it fell well short of the 5% annual wage increase the union was seeking. DC 33 President Greg Boulware expressed his own discontent with its terms before eventually encouraging his members to vote in its favor.
