Philadelphia mayor delivers impassioned remarks to striking city workers
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker delivered impassioned remarks on Thursday as negotiations between the city and the largest blue-collar workers union remain at a standstill.
MORE | Latest updates on the DC 33 strike in Philadelphia
"I will not put the fiscal stability of the City of Philadelphia in jeopardy for no one. If that means I'm a one-term mayor, then so be it," Parker said during a news conference on Thursday. "But the history books will say that Mayor Cherelle Parker did right by the blue collar men and women of District Council 33 and put an offer on the table that no other municipal blue collar workers in the nation could be able to say that their city was providing mortgages for them to be able to become home owners."
WATCH: Mayor Parker provides update on day three of DC 33 strike
The latest talks between the city and leaders of District Council 33 - the largest of four major unions representing city workers - ended late Wednesday without a deal, and no new talks were scheduled for Thursday.
"In order to come back to the bargaining table, you have to have a counterproposal to be able to do," said District Council 33 President Greg Boulware. "Now, we just presented the city with what we thought was a very, very fair kind of proposal last night. They rejected it and came back with very much the same proposal that they've had over the last three days."
The latest proposal by DC 33 includes a 5% wage increase per year for three years.
The City is offering 7% over 3 years, which averages out to be just over 2% a year. Parker says the contract offered is the most offered by any mayor.
It's unclear when talks would resume.
"Calling us in the room and sitting down for hours after hours after hours when there's no dialogue going on is wasting our time. So that's why we're going to go back, sit, revise our proposal, get it over to the city, and then we'll happily meet with them whenever we can set up an amicable date and time," said Boulware.
RELATED| Trash piles up in parts of Philadelphia as blue-collar city workers remain on strike
DC 33 is made up of roughly 9,000 workers who provide services like street repair and trash pickup. Their membership also includes some airport workers, members of the Water Dept. and 911 dispatchers.
Mounting trash piles in some parts of the city were also still causing grief for residents and officials, who on Thursday strongly urged residents to follow the collection guidelines imposed when the strike began Tuesday. They also urged residents to report problems at the trash collection sites, and noted trash is being cleared as fast as possible and the city is working to open more sites.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
