Unions and Labor

Public and private sector unions, bargaining law, and labor's role in Philadelphia politics.

Articles (19)

• Organized Labor in Philadelphia — An overview of Philadelphia's labor movement: public-sector, building-trades, transit, health care and service unions, their councils, and how they interact with city government.
• Public Sector Bargaining in Pennsylvania — How Act 111 (police and fire) and Act 195 (other public employees) govern collective bargaining, strikes and interest arbitration for Philadelphia's city workers.
• AFSCME District Council 33 — The union of roughly 9,000 blue-collar and related City of Philadelphia employees, led by Greg Boulware, which struck for about eight days in July 2025.
• AFSCME District Council 47 — The AFSCME council for Philadelphia's professional, technical, administrative and supervisory city workers and employees of nonprofits, universities and courts, led by April Gigetts.
• Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 — The Philadelphia police and sheriff's deputies union, led by Roosevelt Poplar, which bargains with the city under Act 111 binding arbitration.
• IAFF Local 22 — The union of Philadelphia firefighters, paramedics and EMS personnel, which bargains under Act 111 and was reported in July 2026 to have received a two-year arbitration award.
• Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council — The umbrella body of Philadelphia's construction trade unions, led by business manager Ryan Boyer, and its role in development, public works and politics.
• IBEW Local 98 — Philadelphia's electricians' local, with James Foy as president and Mark Lynch Jr. as business manager, and the federal convictions of former leaders John Dougherty and Brian Burrows.
• Philadelphia Federation of Teachers — The union of more than 14,000 Philadelphia public school teachers and staff, led by Arthur Steinberg, and its 2025-2028 contract with the School District.
• TWU Local 234 and SEPTA Labor — The Transport Workers Union Local 234, the union of SEPTA's transit operating and maintenance employees, its reported December 2025 contract and the history of transit labor disputes.
• Teamsters in Philadelphia — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Philadelphia-area locals, including Locals 107, 623, 830 and 502, covering warehouse, delivery, transit and school-administrator workers.
• Service and Health Care Unions — Unions of hospital, nursing home, building service, hotel, retail and communications workers in Philadelphia, including 1199C, SEIU Healthcare PA, 32BJ, UNITE HERE Local 274 and CWA.
• Philadelphia AFL-CIO Council — The Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, the central labor body of more than 100 local unions representing over 150,000 workers, led by President Daniel Bauder.
• 2025 DC 33 Strike — The eight-day strike by Philadelphia's blue-collar city workers in July 2025, which suspended trash collection and ended with a three-year contract.
• Labor and Politics in Philadelphia — How Philadelphia's unions shape elections, budgets and policy: endorsements, political money, building trades influence, police and firefighter unions, and the Dougherty-era prosecutions.
• Prevailing Wage and Project Labor Agreements — How prevailing wage rules and project labor agreements apply to public construction in Philadelphia, who enforces them, and the policy debate over their costs and benefits.
• The FOP Contract and Police Discipline — How the police union contract and Act 111 arbitration shape discipline of Philadelphia officers, including reinstatement rates, the 2025 award and oversight disputes.
• Office of Worker Protections — The City of Philadelphia Department of Labor office that enforces paid sick leave, fair workweek, wage theft and domestic worker laws, strengthened by the 2025 POWER Act.
• Worker Centers and Labor Advocacy — Community-based worker centers, immigrant organizations and advocacy coalitions in Philadelphia that help workers outside union contracts, including Juntos and domestic worker groups.

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