Trash piles up around Philadelphia as city worker strike reaches 1 week

Piles of trash overflowed in Philadelphia’s streets as a city worker strike entered its second week Tuesday.

Contract talks between the city and District Council 33, a labor union representing nearly 9,000 city workers, stalled Monday with no plans to reconvene negotiations, FOX29 Philadelphia reported.

Citizens were seen adding trash to the massive piles that overwhelmed streets that the city has designated as temporary trash dumping sites. Some piles stretched down an entire city block, creating an overwhelming stench in the summer heat, the outlet reported.

“It’s disgusting. It’s making people sick,” one resident told the station. 

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“It terrible,” another resident said as he added to the garbage pile. “Here’s our tax dollars right here, we have to take out our own trash.”

He added that the city workers on strike “provide a great service” and he supports their efforts.

“They’re out here in the heat messing around with people’s filth. They deserve it,” he said, referring to their demands for better wages and pensions.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has praised the city’s latest offer to the workers, calling it “historic” and “fiscally responsible.”

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But the union has so far refused to accept the offer for a fifth-tier pay scale and ability to take part in the city’s $2 billion housing plan.

District Council 33 President Greg Boulware urged the city to sit down with the union and try to make some “meaningful progress,” though it likely would not budge on its demands for better wages and pensions.

“We don’t move easy,” Boulware said from the picket line.