By B. COOPER
On July 21, the workers of AFSCME District Council 33 (DC 33) in Philadelphia, who were on strike for eight days over issues of pay, health care, and other issues, voted to approve a new three-year contract. The new contract includes 3% raises per year retroactive to July 1 of this year, a $1500 signing bonus, as well as retaining the health-care plan. The settlement will also establish a phased-in fifth pay tier, which would give workers who have been employed for longer periods an extra 2% raise, and would supposedly include 80% of the workforce in three years.
The ratification vote came just after members of DC 47—representing over 6000 mostly white-collar city workers, but also cultural workers, and composed of two separate locals, 2186 and 2187—approved its new contract without going on strike. Although their contracts expired on the same date, the union leadership of DC 47 decided to not strike alongside DC 33 workers but to extend their contract two more weeks. However, many of the rank and file supported the demands of DC 33, and library workers from DC 47 closed down libraries in solidarity. Workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art won union representation with DC 47 in 2022.
Indeed, the original demands of DC 33 and 47 on the city of Philadelphia were similar. Both unions had asked for contracts providing 8% raises annually in addition to retaining health care and overtime rules. The city offered DC 47 only 2.5% raises annually, which Local 2187 President Jesse Jordan called “unacceptable”. Ultimately, DC 47 negotiated a similar contract to what DC 33 had won—although with only 2.5% for the first year and a $1250 signing bonus.
In general, this represents a tactical defeat for both unions, with neither winning anything close to their original demands, and with only one of the unions engaging in a militant strike. Indeed, the leadership of the Philadelphia labor movement was unwilling to counter the strikebreaking methods (such as a Democratic Party-aligned judge ordering 911 operators back to work) and intractable demands of the city’s Democratic administration.
Mayor Parker, a machine Democrat, claims to be “pro-labor” yet got several injunctions against the union and approved the hiring of scabs during the strike. Greg Boulware, president of DC 33, pointed out in an interview with Fox News that the administration was “trying to pick us apart with injunctions all over the place.” The city also tried to limit pickets in some areas.
DC 33 vote breakdown
Out of over 9000 union members, only 2375 voted at the AFSCME 33 headquarters over seven days, with 1535 voting yes and 838 voting no (two were voided). That is, while 64% of workers who cast ballots supported the new contract, only 26% of the total membership voted, and only 17% actively voted in support of the new contract. This is in stark contrast to the vote by the membership to approve the strike by 95%.
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted while publishing interviews with some DC 33 workers that there was great dissatisfaction with the proposed contract among the workers. But the newspaper writers stated that many workers realized “realistically” that it would be very hard to restart the strike—and that this time, the workers would probably get much less popular support.
This result is similar to what took place with the contract vote after the historic 1986 strike of sanitation workers, when similar dissatisfaction reigned after only a vanishing minority of the workers (300 out of over 12,000 city workers) showed up to vote.
After the current vote, The Inquirer quoted a Parks and Recreation employee as saying, “Time will not heal this wound. The wound is not from the strike.” They continued, “The wound is from the situation that caused the strike. Time will not heal this. A fair contract will.”
Although the newspapers report on “demoralization” of the workers, DC 33 members who spoke about their experiences at public pro-labor meetings hosted by the DSA felt that the strike built solidarity within the union, and that an upbeat mood remains that they can win next time.
After temporary setback, united action needed
None of the workers received the contract they deserved. While the city provides tax breaks for corporations to attract businesses, spends hundreds of millions on vast environmental destruction in FDR park, and spends millions on World Cup preparations, the city’s workers have received inadequate adjustments to their wages, which will not keep up with the cost of living in this city.
One of the major lessons of the strike that workers will need to grapple with in future contract negotiations is the necessity for united action. In this case, the union leaders of DC 47 failed to take advantage of the militant situation being presented by DC 33. Had both district councils gone on strike simultaneously, the impact would have been much more powerful. As things stand now, the instinct among union bureaucrats—to play it steady and relegate the struggle of the workers to backroom deal making—may have cost both unions a better contract.
Another aspect of united action is building cross-industry action and solidarity, which will require breaking through the tough shell of a union bureaucracy accustomed to sectoral isolation. For example, United Steelworkers Local 286’s contract with the city will be up for negotiation soon, according to 6ABC News. In addition, many unions such as the American Federation of Teachers and the United Auto Workers look to 2028 for simultaneous and nationwide labor actions. This is a good proposal, and must be expanded to include as many unions as possible.
Popular support must also be mobilized, and this can be done in many ways. In the past, women’s auxiliaries (in the era before women were commonly accepted as industrial workers) helped shape successful strikes, such as the famous 1934 Minneapolis Teamster strike. Similar forces today could engage families, students, and the unemployed in supporting strike actions. This would require serious preparation before a strike.
Class independence: The missing piece
A second main lesson of this strike is the need to have a working-class leadership—extending beyond single militant leaders, and encompassing a whole layer of the workers—that is politically independent of the capitalist parties. One of the major difficulties of this strike, for example, was the role of city union leaderships in supporting the Democratic Party; some officials indicated to the press that they were torn between supporting DC 33 and their fealty to Mayor Parker.
In the 2023 Democratic Party primary elections for mayor, DC 33—then led by former president Ernest Garrett—endorsed the front runner, Jeff Brown. But then, after Brown made unfavorable remarks about the sanitation workers, campaigning on the slogan that if he won, he would “pick up the damn trash,” two of the locals affiliated with DC 33 sided with Parker, while the others stuck with Brown. Ultimately, Cheryle Parker won in the primary and the general election, with the general support of Philadelphia’s organized labor movement.
The current DC 33 president, Boulware, promised to wage a militant struggle to ensure that DC 33 workers were fairly compensated and appeared deeply disappointed with the outcome of the strike. But Boulware, after telling news reporters that he was “frustrated” that he had been forced to accede to a city administration that “would not budge” in its demands, has not indicated any break with the Democratic Party. It will take democratic membership control of the unions to challenge the historical record of union support for capitalist parties in the U.S.
A particularly egregious example of Democratic Party union busting is the attempt in 1992 by Philadelphia’s Democratic Mayor Ed Rendell to gut DC 33’s workforce and to privatize trash collection. A lot of fightback by the community and labor allies was needed to defeat that attack on labor. However, Rendell was able to impose a contract on DC 33 that contained a number of givebacks plus a two-year wage freeze; this was the “price” for not privatizing the work. After a largely symbolic 14-hour strike, the union’s executive board approved the settlement in a 15-6 vote, but members remained frustrated for years at the inability to make up lost ground. And yet, DC 33 and virtually the entire local labor movement have continued to endorse the candidates of the Democratic Party in subsequent elections (a few unions have backed Republicans).
The Democratic Party is not the friend of labor, although many on the left as well as in the labor movement still retain this misapprehension. The DC 33 workers are facing a huge contradiction when some claim that their boss—the city administration—is also their political “ally.” The DC 33 membership fought back against their employers. But after the tentative settlement was negotiated above their heads, and they were ordered back to work, they lost the momentum that they had had in a strike that had mass popular support.
Ultimately, unions must fight for the interests of the whole working class, including all non-union and undocumented workers. The struggle for particular demands of the unions must be extended into a general campaign for the welfare of the whole working class as against the billionaires and their exploiting system. So long as the unions have leaders that support the Democratic or Republican parties, and so long as workers have no political party of their own, we will remain much weaker as a class than our potential would allow.
A united working class could rock the country to its foundations and bring the billionaire class to its knees, easily ending decades of corruption and stopping Trump’s authoritarian abuses immediately. A major obstacle to that future is a union leadership riddled with careerism and seeking approval of (and for) duplicitous politicians in the pay of big business.
