Trash seen on C Street and Allegheny Avenue amid the District Council 33 strike, taken on the 4th of July. (Credit: @philly_captain on X)
After eight days, the District Council 33 strike is finally over. What is the city planning to do with all the trash on the streets?
On July 1, around 9,000 of Philadelphia's municipal workers went on strike after Mayor Cherelle Parker and the union failed to reach a new contract agreement.
For the following week, essential city services stalled. This included trash collection, 911 dispatching, water sanitation, street crossing safety, and airport operations.
After the strike continued for more than a week, contract negotiations between District Council 33 leadership and city officials occurred on Tuesday. The meeting took place at the Community College of Philadelphia's West Regional Center, beginning at 2 p.m.
Talks lasted until 4 a.m. the following Wednesday, culminating in 14 hours of negotiations. The parties reached a tentative agreement involving a three-year contract that will deliver a total 14% pay increase over Mayor Parker’s four-year term.
Now that the strike is over and union members have returned to work, the city has shifted its focus to the strike's ramifications.
In a press conference following the deal, Mayor Parker addressed residents and said, “This is going to take some transition, and we ask you to just give us a little bit of grace."
The lack of curbside trash pickup was one of the biggest impacts of the strike. Though city officials shared a map of temporary collection centers where residents could bring their trash, illegal dumping was a prominent issue. Action News reported that three people were arrested Monday for leaving trash outside City Hall.
Most collection sites were within walking distance of residential areas, yet many residents, particularly the elderly, were unable to walk their trash several blocks in over 90-degree heat. The sites that were not walkable posed an issue to the almost 30% of Philadelphians who do not own a car.
City residents took to social media to voice concerns over the streets' lack of cleanliness.
Locals complained that heaps of garbage baked in the summer heat, which led to a thick stench that attracted maggots, fruit flies, and rats. Healthcare workers said the conditions created public safety concerns; the accumulation of trash invited pests that potentially carried disease or bacterial infections.
Carlton Williams, the director of Philadelphia’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, said there are many tasks to be accomplished as the city returns to its normal collection schedule. Staff have to inventory equipment, reassign workers, and close the 60 temporary drop-off sites.
On Monday, regular trash collection service will resume.
Until then, the city directed residents to hold onto their trash or take it to one of six sanitation centers that will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. until Friday. On Saturday (and only this Sunday), the sanitation centers will return to their regular hours, which are Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We want to make sure that residents have the opportunity — who are currently not getting the collection service immediately — to be able to properly dispose of their trash without taking it to those 60 locations,” said Williams.
Williams also said that the city is “not tolerating illegal dumping — not then, not now, not ever.”
He noted that cameras will be placed at the temporary dumping locations to monitor activity. Anyone who participates in illegal dumping will be fined $5,000 per item, per incident.
