AFSCME District Council 33 Approves New Contract with City; Agreement Ratified 8 to 1

    PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- By a vote of almost eight to one,
 3992 to 513, the members of AFSCME District Council 33 today ratified the
 tentative contract with the City of Philadelphia that was reached in the early
 morning hours of Tuesday, July 26, 2000.
     The contract ratification vote was by a mail ballot and the results were
 counted and certified by the American Arbitration Association.  The results
 were released to the Union at 1:00 P.M. today.
     Pete Matthews, the President of AFSCME District Council 33, said that he
 was pleased at the results of the ratification vote and that the margin of
 approval "shows that our membership knows this is a fair deal."
     "We entered the recent negotiations with the objective of reaching a fair
 contract settlement and that is what we were able to achieve," said Matthews.
 "The fact that the tentative agreement was approved by such a wide margin
 shows that our membership knows this is a fair deal.  It is a fair deal for
 the members of the union and for the citizens of Philadelphia as well."
     Union members will receive a $1,500 bonus called for in the agreement
 within 15 days, according to the terms of the agreement.  In addition to the
 bonus, the contract calls for wage increases of 3% in each of the last three
 years of the agreement, as well as increases in contributions to the Union's
 health fund, including a fifth year of free health care benefits for retirees.
     District Council 33 also negotiated $100,000 in funding for the operation
 of working committees on career paths for clerical workers and comparable
 worth.
     AFSCME District Council 33 members had threatened to strike at midnight on
 Monday, July 25, 2000 if a contract settlement had not been close.  The strike
 was averted when the Union and the City continued a marathon bargaining
 session into the early hours of Tuesday, July 25, reaching a tentative accord
 at about 5:00 A.M.
     Matthews noted that the Union would be working closely with the Street
 Administration over the next four years to make sure that all of the terms of
 the agreement are honored.
     "A contract is a living document that must be enforced in order to be of
 any value," said Matthews.  "That is why, over the next four years, District
 Council 33 and all of the Local Unions within the Council, will be working
 very closely with the City to make sure that our members get everything they
 have earned under the terms of the agreement.  We also want to be sure that
 the committees on career paths for clerical workers and comparable worth are
 actual working committees because these issues are very important to our
 Union's female members."
     AFSCME District Council 33 represents 11,000 workers in the City's
 Sanitation and Water Departments, as well as workers in the Revenue
 Department, Crossing Guards, Correctional Officers, the Philadelphia Airport,
 the Health Department, nursing homes and clerical workers.
 
 

SOURCE  AFSCME District Council 33