September 06, 2024
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city and DC 47 union workers reached an agreement on a one-year contract extension.
After a contentious summer that included a lawsuit against the city, a union that represents thousands of city employees agreed to a one-year contract extension, Mayor Cherelle Parker said Friday.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 47 (DC 47) has more than 7,000 members who work in a variety of fields, including nonprofit, higher education, cultural, arts and government sectors. The union's contract expired in June as Parker moved to implement a policy that made workers return to the office five days a week starting July 15. DC 47 sued the city for an emergency injunction but ultimately lost that battle — though they do have a pending unfair labor practice charge and arbitrations.
Under the new agreement, all DC 47 employees will receive a 4.4% pay increase for fiscal 2025 — the largest single-year raise in 30 years for the union, according to Parker's office. All members who were an active city employee as of Aug. 9 will also receive a one-time bonus of $1,400.
Benefits got a boost as well. The city agreed to pay $850,000 toward DC 47's health and welfare fund. In addition, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day will be a city-recognized holiday for employees, including this year. Paid parental leave will be extended from six to eight weeks, and union members will not have restrictions to use their sick leave to care for a family member who's ill. The updates will cost the city $11,531,374 for fiscal 2025, which began July 1.
"I just want to be clear that I believe this is a fair deal for every individual in District Council 47, and it's a fair deal for the taxpayers of the city of Philadelphia," Parker said. "I am proud to stand here with the men and women of the Parker administration who negotiated this deal and got it done."
DC 47's leadership, though, was less thrilled about the deal, and union leadership was not present at Friday's briefing. DC 47 President David Wilson said that in negotiations, the city made it clear it would not offer a raise above 4.4% for the one-year extension, which is less than the 5% he said police and fire unions received and the 4.5% for sheriffs and correctional officers.
"Not only did we find the 4.4% — and not hitting equity and parity with the other unions — to be disrespectful, but we still are very much so disappointed in this mayoral administration on the unilateral removal of our hybrid work, despite it being bargained with the previous administration," Wilson said.
In opening negotiations for a new, permanent deal, Wilson said DC 47 would be looking for a three- to four-year deal, significant salary increases and expansion of fringe benefits, especially in child and elder care. It will also be seeking tuition reimbursement and educational pathway programs, an end to the residency requirement and the return of hybrid work.
The agreement does not extend to DC 33, which represents blue-collar city workers and whose contract also expired June 30. As of Friday, DC 33 said it had submitted a 17-page proposal for a new contract and was hopeful that it would receive a counterproposal soon to begin formal negotiations.
Perritti DiVirgilio, director of labor, said the city was still pushing for a one-year extension, but that the union had sent a four-year proposal.
"With the other municipal unions, we were able to make arrangements [for an extension]" Parker said. "It would be great to be able to say that we had achieved the same with District Council 33, but our teams continue to talk."
