Pete Matthews, president of AFSCME
District Council 33, the largest bloc of
Philadelphia’s unionized municipal workers, issued a press release today
calling for round-the-clock negotiations with the city to end a five-year
contract impasse.
The union and the city are
scheduled to resume contract negotiations Friday, Matthews said in the press
release, “and should continue, around the clock if necessary, until a fair
contract settlement is reached.”
There was no indication of any
change, however, in the union’s position on an issue the Nutter administration
has described as critical – a bid to change pension benefits for newly-hired
employees.
Administration spokesman Mark
McDonald declined to talk any specifics but said, “The administration is
pleased that union leaders want to get back to the table and we look forward to
what they have to say.”
Most of the city’s
AFSCME-represented workers, in both District Council 33 and 47, have been
working without contracts since mid-2009. Police officers and firefighters have
had new contracts awarded through binding arbitration, along with some AFSCME
units like prison guards.
Source: Philly.com
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