City workers strike in Philadelphia, affecting trash pickup, libraries and 911 calls

Описание: 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 was 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.

Video courtesy the Associated Press