July 25, 2025
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 47 overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new, three-year contract with the city that includes annual raises and bonus in its first year. The union represents 6,000 of white-collar city workers.
The members of the union that represents white-collar city workers overwhelmingly approved the new, three-year contract its leaders had negotiated with Mayor Cherelle Parker's administration earlier this month.
Of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 47 members who voted on the deal, 84.2% voted to approve it — the highest amount of "yes" votes the union has ever received, leaders said. About 55% of the union's members cast ballots during the voting process.
The contract, which covers Locals 2186 and 2187, includes a 2.5% raise and a $1,250 bonus in the first year followed by 3% raises in the second and third years. District Council 47 leaders agreed to the deal last week, but it needed to be ratified by the union members.
The ratification of the agreement marks an end to a trying month for the Parker administration, which also finalized a contract with AFSCME District Council 33. That union represents about 9,000 blue-collar city workers, including sanitation workers. The union went on a strike that had entered its ninth day before a deal was struck.
As District Council 47's contract extension expiration date neared, another city worker strike loomed on the horizon. Members of Local 2187 had held a vote to authorize a work stoppage if a deal couldn't be reached, and the results were expected to be announced on July 15 — the extension's expiration date. (Local 2186 is not allowed to strike.) But the sides struck a deal around 5:30 a.m. that day.
The contract includes a 1% fifth step increase in the union pay scale starting in 2027, a new committee to review citywide discipline and increased staffing oversight. The city also agreed to pay 92% of the cost of health and welfare fund claims, a 1% increase, and offer Medicare Part B reimbursement for retired workers. It will cost the city $92 million over five years, according to Mayor Cherelle Parker.
District Council 47 had been in negotiations with the city since April, and originally asked for 8% annual increases and a four-year deal. The union represents 6,000 supervisors and administrators in City Hall, the Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
The deal appears to have been more popular among District Council 47's members than the contract the city reached with District Council 33. Thatagreement only was ratified with a 65% approval rate, and less than one-third of District Council 33's members voted. That three-year deal include annual 3% raises and a $1,500 bonus in the first year of the deal.
