Thousands of city workers strike in Philadelphia, affecting trash pickup, libraries and 911 calls

Описание: (1 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philadelphia – 1 July 2025
1. Various of workers on picket line outside Free Library of Philadelphia
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dhafir Gerald, library worker:
“We don't want to, we don't want to be out here to do this inconvenience to the citizens of the city of Philadelphia. But unfortunately, our mayor is not seeing eye to eye with trying to comply with making sure that myself and my fellow union members are compensated for the hard work that we do. We are what you call the blue-collar workers of the city of Philadelphia. We are the grunts. We are the people that are here every day doing we’ve got to do. And it's not just here, the library. We have sanitation. We have 911 dispatchers. We have parks and recreation. We have all these people that make sure the city runs well.”
3. Various of trash cans
4. Cutaway of Free Library sign
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dhafir Gerald, library worker:
“We have to stand out here in solidarity. We have to stand together in order to fight this fight in order to get the things that we need. Like I said before, inflation has gone up. The cost of living here in the city of Philadelphia has gone up and we have to be paid the wages to reflect the changes of what's going on in everyday life.”
6. Various of workers picketing near the City Hall
STORYLINE:
Striking city workers waved signs at traffic circling Philadelphia City Hall and joined picket lines outside libraries, city offices and other workplaces as nearly 10,000 blue-collar workers walked off the job Tuesday in search of better pay and benefits.

District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced the strike on its Facebook page early Tuesday, saying “HOLD THE LINES.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city would suspend residential trash collection, close some city pools and shorten recreation center hours, but vowed to keep the city running.

Police and firefighters are not on strike, but the DC33 membership includes 911 dispatchers, trash collectors, water department workers and many others.

Dhafir Gerald, 48, a library security guard who said he loves the city because it gave him a second chance after a long-ago incarceration were among workers rallying outside the library.

"The cost of living here in the city of Philadelphia has gone up and we have to be paid the wages to reflect the changes of what's going on in everyday life.” said Gerald, who makes about $46,000 a year after six years, the first few with the sanitation department.

Parker, a pro-labor Democrat, promised that Fourth of July celebrations in the nation’s birthplace would go on as usual.

District Council 33 is the largest of four major unions representing city workers.

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AP Video by Tassanee Vejpongsa


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