President of Unia Greg Boulware left the conference room in the community campus in Western Philadelphia and sat down to focus with the team he gathered to get tangled with the administration of the mayor of Cherlle L. Parker.
From the seating area on Saturday evening the classic city landscape in Philadelphia, with bicycles in the foreground, the panorama of the city behind them and the train on the Frankford market, rumbling on its left. It was as if the stage was set to emphasize the gravity of what they talked: how and when to finish the first strike of the city worker Philly since 1986.
But when the sun started on the fifth day of the strike, both parties once again broke the negotiations without a contract for a recent contract, and over 9,000 members of the American Federation of State, Federation and the Municipal Council of the Employee District 33 continued to strike.
“Our negotiating team will continue to work seriously in discussions with the District 33 Council in order to reach an agreement on the honest and responsible fiscal contract, which is deserved by both hard -working members and the city,” said Parker spokesman Joe Grace on Saturday.
Boulware refused to comment.
DC 33 is the largest and lowest paid collective unit, representing first line employees throughout the city’s local governments, including garbage collectors, street cubes and 911 dispatchers.
She increased the hope that the contract could be as a result, because Boulware on Friday sent the administration a recent proposal that included softening his position in a critical publication of remuneration.
It was the first time since the strike began at 12:01 on Tuesday, when each page moved.
Parker previously offered a three -year contract with annual increases with a value of no more than 3%, which according to her costs the city $ 115 million. Boulware previously proposed a four -year contract with increases in 5% per year.
It was not clear what his updated offer entails or whether the city made its own recent proposal.
Saturday talks at the Community College of Philadelphia Career and Advanced Technology Center meant the second formal negotiating session from the start of the strike.
Meanwhile, Bob Brady, a long -time chairman of the City Committee, increased the pressure on Saturday so that both sides reach a contract, calling both sides to “check your damn ego at the door.”
“It’s hot there, the garbage is collected, and with rubbish worms, rats and cockroaches and all such things come,” said Brady in an interview. “I hope they will do it, and I’m quite optimistic after SMS with Greg.”
A former US representative, who has chaired parties since 1986, Brady has mighty connections with an organized working force and was Parker’s ally.
He said on Saturday that during the strike he was in regular contact with Boulware, but he was unable to reach Parker – a narrative that the mayor’s team immediately questioned.
“I called and sent an SMS – Ai did not recover any answer,” said Brady. “It depends on them. I just offer help.”
Parker “has great respect and admiration for the chairman of the Brady’s Democratic Party,” said Grace, but “she did not hear from chairman Brady during this strike.”
As the Saga DC 33 saga residence, the city also negotiates a recent agreement with the AFSCME District Council 47, which represents about 3,000 municipal employees, such as professionals and superiors, and now he runs its own strike.
DC 47 is an umbrella compound and its structure is complicated. The council consists of nine residents, but only two represent the city’s employees in Philadelphia as part of the Executive Department. (Others represent employees in court as well as in educational institutions and non -profit.)
And among these two urban associations, only one with the law is allowed: Local 2187, which represents administrative assistants and professionals. The second, local 2186, represents supervisors in various urban agencies.
The leaders of the DC 47 were clearly serene during the DC 33 strike. The previous contracts of both unions expired on Tuesday, when a greater relationship went out into the streets. DC 47 decided to sign a two -week extension to allow the conversations to continue.
Members of the White Cycling Association cannot legally join their colleagues from AFSCME on the picket line until their current contract ends, and their voting in strike authorization ends on July 15. But this is not a clear leaders of the DC 47 are cheerful to join the work.
“In response to great interest in our membership in dealing with the authorization to the strike, we want to make sure that each member can remain up to date and participate in the voting process,” wrote local president 2187 Jesse Jordan last week, which was not previously reported.
Jordan did not answer the request for comment, and the President of DC on April 47 Giggetts and Vice President Robert Harris did not respond to several applications throughout the week.
“Let’s stay strong, informed and united,” Jordan wrote to his members.
