Listen Here, Mr. Mayor!
By Jimmie Turner
At the end of Tuesday's Convention session, hundreds of delegates gave up after-hour activities to support their AFSCME sisters and brothers who were locked in difficult contract negotiations with Philadelphia Mayor John Street and his administration.
Conventioneers joined a large contingent of members from District Councils 33 and 47 in front of city hall to let the mayor know that Philadelphia works because its employees do. (Council 33 represents 13,000 blue-collar workers; Council 47 is composed of 3,000 white-collar workers.)
The message got through. Street found himself stuck between two rocks (the councils) and a hard place (the Republican National Convention, scheduled to open within weeks in the City of Brotherly Love). With the world's news media about to converge on the city and thrust Street under the intense glare of their cameras, the city's negotiators and the councils' leaders reached a tentative agreement on July 25. The deal included signing bonuses in the first year of $1,500, raises of 3 percent annually through 2003 and improved health care benefits.
As our Convention was in progress, however, it was far from certain that Street and his negotiators would see the light. So, as the contract deadline came and went on June 30, both councils voted to strike unless a settlement was reached by July 25.
Unionized workers were left with no choice other than to call a strike. For years, they've given up wage and benefit increases so that the city could dig itself out of financial debt. Meanwhile, the city has rung up a $200 million budget surplus.
At the rally, Council 33 Pres. Pete Matthews roared: "This union will not be insulted again. From this day forward, we are going to let the mayor know that we are not going to make any more concessions. We are going to get a fair contract!"
While city workers struggled with their contract negotiations, members of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE) /AFSCME Local 1199C, settled contracts at four area hospitals. The last to be resolved was at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Employees there initially voted to reject the contract, but NUHHCE Pres. (and IVP) Henry Nicholas persuaded them to ratify it.
