Philadelphia’s Largest Worker Strike in Decades, Explained

Late at night on July 1, 2025, Philadelphia saw nearly 9,000 city workers from AFSCME District Council 33 walk off their jobs. This was the city's largest municipal strike in decades, immediately disrupting services ranging from trash collection and emergency response to public facility operations. But why exactly is this happening, how long might it last, and what does it mean for residents?

The key drivers of the strike are straightforward yet far from an easy fix: wage increases, affordable healthcare, and cost-of-living adjustments. Workers argue their wages have not kept up with the city's skyrocketing cost of living. Union president Greg Boulware put it bluntly: he would keep fighting for the workers “fair share.”

Workers are demanding annual raises of 8%, fully covered healthcare, adjustments tied to inflation, and bonuses acknowledging their frontline pandemic work. The City has responded offering 7% over three years, which averages out to just over 2% per year. This gap has led to a deep standoff.

How residents are being affected

Immediately, the strike hit essential city services. Trash collection ceased entirely, as sanitation workers walked off the job, forcing the city to establish 63 temporary drop-off sites for garbage. These sites, however, are not easily accessible to everyone, especially those without transportation, and the accumulation of trash during the summer heat poses serious public health concerns.

Emergency services have also faced significant disruptions. Initially, 911 dispatchers joined the strike, severely delaying emergency response times. Although a court injunction compelled some dispatchers to return to work, residents are still experiencing longer waits for emergency assistance.

Additionally, public facilities have been significantly impacted. Many pools, recreation centers, and libraries have closed or significantly reduced their hours. Currently, only 24 of the city’s 62 pools remain operational, creating additional hardships during the summer months.

A history of labor disputes in Philly

Philadelphia’s municipal workforce has a long, complicated legacy of labor activism—rooted in public sector employees asserting their right to fair wages and working conditions. The current strike by AFSCME District Council 33 (DC 33)—which represents sanitation workers, 911 dispatchers, crossing guards, water and airport employees, echoes earlier flashpoints in the city’s labor history. DC 33 was born from earlier city worker collectives, dating to sanitation and public works employees organizing in the 1960s. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, patterns of job action began to emerge: workers increasingly staged walkouts over substandard pay, inadequate support, and unsafe working conditions. These early labor efforts laid the groundwork for DC 33’s formal formation in the late 1970s, giving these groups a unified, bargaining voice.

The strike that most closely parallels today began in summer 1986, when DC 33 sanitation workers walked off the job over unresolved pay negotiations. Trash ceased to be collected across the city and quickly piled into uncontrolled heaps: 45,000 tons of uncollected waste before and during the strike, per later city data. Neighborhoods struggled with foul odors, rodent proliferation, and stalling routines. After roughly 20 days, political pressure, public health concerns, and complex mediation forced an agreement. Eventually, workers secured a multi‑year contract with retroactive raises and improved benefits—legacies that still influence negotiations today.

Although full municipal shutdowns have not recurred since 1986, DC 33 has repeatedly leveraged limited walkouts and labor demonstrations, particularly in sanitation and public works. Repeated “rolling strikes,” short work stoppages, and aggressive contract negotiations have become routine. The city and the union have periodically agreed to interim resolutions, such as modest pay increases or one‑year extensions, without full contract renewal. These stopgaps underscore the cyclical tension in cost‑of‑living negotiations.In 2024, DC 33 transit employees briefly struck over access to paid sick leave and fair wages. That action lasted under a week under a provisional agreement, and the city viewed it as a warning: underlying economic pressures were building, even in the absence of widespread service disruptions

Could this get worse? How long will it last?

Beyond the missed trash pickups and closed pools, this strike is a test of values. It forces Philadelphia to confront whether it truly values the labor that keeps its infrastructure running, the people who fix water mains, answer emergency calls, and sweep the streets. In a city where the cost of living is rising faster than wages, the picket line has become a fault line.

Neither the city nor the union appears close to backing down. Past strikes, like the one in 1986, suggest residents should brace for several more weeks of disruption. But the looming July Fourth holiday, mounting garbage, and rising temperatures may compress that timeline. The pressure is building, visibly, and pungently.

How this conflict ends won’t just shape the next contract. It will shape how Philadelphia approaches work, worth, and dignity in the years ahead. In moments like this, a city reveals what it’s willing to pay for, and who it’s willing to leave behind. Philadelphia, like many other cities, faces critical decisions regarding how to adequately support its essential workers amidst growing economic challenges. How this strike resolves will indicate the city's commitment to addressing the economic realities facing its workforce and could significantly influence its approach to labor relations and public service in the coming years.