‘It’s embarrassing, and it’s shocking’: Residents frustrated by continuing strike

Tensions and piles of trash are growing as a strike by the city s largest labor union which includes sanitation workers teachers and airport employees entered a third day on Thursday The American Federation of State Council and Municipal Employees AFSCME District Council has been on strike since a m on July The city had been offering a deal that offered raises of and over three years while DC has been insisting on a raise for four years The city and union agents met on Wednesday until early Thursday morning but made no progress toward ending the strike DC president Greg Boulware described the Inquirer that the city had sweetened their offer with a bonuses but that he desired lasting increases to workers salaries The average salary for DC members is around the union has declared numerous times Boulware announced there were no plans to resume negotiations Thursday which is the last day before the July holiday How much money are we talking To get a sense of the amount of money is being haggled over Billy Penn pulled out its calculator and did specific quick math We multiplied the number of union members by the announced average salary in dollars and multiplied that by to get a rough estimate of what each percentage point equals in these negotiations The answer About million So if the two sides were to agree to say a raise the midpoint between their stated positions it would cost the city about million excluding benefits and other factors South Philly frustrations For three days now Teresa Pea has taken her trash along the roughly -block walk from her home in Point Breeze to the dropoff location on th and Catharine streets On Thursday as trash continues to pile up and negotiations between the union and city appear to be stalled frustration has set in for Pea and other South Philly residents I don t know why it makes me so mad I make good money and I can t imagine standing out here in the heat collecting people s trash for such a low amount declared Pea referencing the union estimate that its average worker makes about per year Mayor Cherelle Parker should be ashamed With no discussions between the city and DC scheduled Pea mentioned her frustration has grown with the increasing likelihood that the upcoming Fourth of July weekend will be marked not just by fireworks but excess trash Where s all the trash going to go on the Fourth of July It s an incredibly busy weekend around the entire city And we have a lot of people from out of town here this time of year she explained It s embarrassing and it s shocking Other South Philly residents were more upset by their neighbors not taking the extra step to drop off their trash at designated dump sites and leaving it lying about People still need to do their part announced Josh Efflin who lives just a block away from the Broad Street and Snyder Avenue dump site I don t love the mayor but we can t blame everything on them For longtime residents the trash pileups were just another familiar part of city life I was here for the strike and that went days Lance Howard explained I m a Philly guy It s life in the big city dude Trash With sanitation workers on strike there are at present no curbside trash or recycling collections The city has created a list of temporary waste drop off sites for people to bring their trash encouraging people to bring their waste to these locations on their normal scheduled trash pickup date Despite this a multitude of residents have expressed concerns about this system Specific dropoff locations are in unclear locations and there has even been tension between law enforcement and union workers at various sites Residents have also wondered whether using the drop-off sites is tantamount to overcoming the picket line A large number of Philadelphians expressed concerns that if negotiations are not made ahead of the weekend massive amounts of Fourth of July trash could pile up A posted court order stating that sanitation workers could not stop Philadelphia residents from dropping off trash at the Northwest Sanitation Center on July Kimberly Paynter WHYY What s open and for how long Plenty of city services have modified or ceased operations due to the strike but particular remain open or have alternative options Trash dropoff and pickup sites are open from a m to p m though there have been incidents where union members blocked access to dropoffs While city pools were expected to open by the end of next week only are fully available now City recreation centers are open for reduced hours a m to p m they d normally stay open till p m Summer camps will still operate normally but evening programs are suspended Permitted events in park spaces face limited maintenance cleaning and gate access The pool at Hunting Park Rec Center Billy Penn file photo All Free Library of Philadelphia branches are closed during the duration of the strike This means that cooling centers and free summer lunch for Philly youth are also as of now not in operation Certain healthcare services at City of Philadelphia Medical Centers are temporarily unavailable or delayed The city says services available will vary by day and location What s up with courts The city has filed several flourishing preliminary injunctions with the Court of Common Pleas to order certain employees back to work This includes call center employees and particular essential Philadelphia Water Department workers Another preliminary injunction filed by the city also prohibits DC picketers from blocking or obstructing access to municipal buildings Another court order obtained by the city prevents striking sanitation workers from gathering in groups of more than eight or standing within feet of city property which includes sanitation centers or engaging in behavior deemed as intimidating or harassing This created tensions at one city sanitation center on Wednesday where dozens of sanitation workers had a standoff with bureaucrats Boulware characterized these actions as bad-faith moves by the city Clearly the city doesn t want to negotiate in good faith with us by doing tactics like this to make sure that they diminish any opportunity for us to have an effective strike on the side of this city he declared The city could potentially file more injunctions over the unit of the strike Trash cans began to overflow around at the Party on the Parkway on July Fourth in Philadelphia Kimberly Paynter WHYY Credit Kimberly Paynter WHYY Prep for Welcome America Mayor Cherelle Parker has stated the city s Wawa Welcome America Fourth of July festivities will go on as planned The city and groups like Visit Philadelphia have maintained this stance as the strike continues Wawa s Welcome America festival is the nation s largest Independence Day celebration It will feature concerts free museum days parades and fireworks Beyond this other departments and services may continue to see impacts if the strike continues This story will be updated The post It s embarrassing and it s shocking Residents frustrated by continuing strike appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY