As negotiations between Mayor Cherelle Parker and AFSCME District Council 33 (DC33) — Philadelphia’s largest municipal union representing sanitation workers, 911 operators, and other crucial public workers — continued into a second week, trash bags began piling up in Northwest Philadelphia. With workers on strike, many public services halted for the foreseeable future. 

While the city feels the impact, the union continues to picket at dumpsites. Members seek a four-year contract with 8% annual raises, additional cost of living increases, changes to healthcare benefits, and change to a Philadelphia residency requirement. The average pay for DC33 members is $46,000, with many entitled to public assistance. 

The proposed contract reads, “DC33 members have tirelessly and selflessly worked to serve the public through the pandemic, and this Contract must compensate our members for those valiant efforts on the City’s behalf.”

Holding the line

In front of Roxborough’s Northwest Sanitation Convenience Center at 300 E. Domino Lane, about two dozen union members and supporters picketed in the 90 degree heat with no intention of leaving until a contract is signed. One member, who said they were not authorized to speak on behalf of the union, said they had four hours of sleep in the last two days as they held the picket line. Three shifts of picketing members remain onsite 24/7, stationed in a tent with food and water. 

Roughly 20 police officers and a dozen police and sheriff cars posted nearby. On Tuesday night, July 1, a judge approved a city-requested injunction limiting the number of picketers to eight and requiring them to stand at least 10 feet away from the sanitation center entrances without blocking entry to dumpsites. By Monday, July 7, cars moved through wide open gates to drop trash into waiting trucks. Later injunctions forced some essential workers, including 911 dispatchers — 237 out of 325 employees — and 72 wastewater treatment workers such as science technicians and water treatment plant operators, to return to the job. 

Despite the rulings and heavy police presence, picketers stayed on the line, later moving across the street as nonunion city program workers moved trash and unlocked the gates. According to protestors, the nonunion workers were offered $30 an hour — at least a $10 temporary raise — to assist during the strike. Calls to the mayor’s office to confirm this number were not returned by press time.

As picketers and police remained, occupied opposite sides of Domino Lane, residents drove by to dump trash, most continuing up the road to a less crowded area. One resident dumped a few bags in the road, forcing a police officer to retrieve them; the action was met with cheers from the strikers. 

While household waste accumulates, opinions on “scabbing” (replacing workers on strike) or crossing the picket line vary. For some posting on Facebook and other neighborhood forums, dropping waste at a dump location or hiring a private contractor undermines the strike. For others, it is more complicated. 

Taking advantage or taking charge?

Terrill Haigler, known as @_yafavtrashman to his 38,000 Instagram followers, believes one can both support and help keep streets clean. Haigler, a former sanitation worker under DC33 from 2019 to 2021, went viral on Instagram advocating for sanitation workers and clean streets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Claiming a goal of making Philadelphia “the cleanest city in the world,” he started a nonprofit, launched a hauling company, wrote a children’s book on the importance of sanitation, and ran for City Council before ending his campaign due to a shortfall of signatures required to land him on the ballot and amid allegations of misuse of funds. 

During the strike, Haigler is charging $15 per house for trash pickup across the city. He said he visited 77 houses in two days. 

Haigler faced criticism on social media from people calling him a scab for filling the role of striking sanitation workers. He disagrees and says he has not received any messages from sanitation workers, and believes his service will not impact the overflowing trash at dumpsites or union leverage. He said he is “standing 10 toes deep on supporting DC33 getting a fair and equitable contract” while helping keep Philly clean. 

“If someone chooses to sponsor a pickup at their own home because they don't wanna deal with the filth or they can't take it to one of the 63 spots, I think that's the right of the taxpayer to do what they wanna do with $15,” Haigler said. “I've seen some people charge $150 a block. Mine is economically feasible for any and everyone to take advantage of, which is on brand for me.” Haigler said he is not taking the trash he collects to one of the 63 temporary sites, but paying to dump at a different site. 

Patrick Jones, who represents Germantown’s 59th Ward, described an elder with a walker carrying a trash bag as surviving, not undermining, a strike. 

“While we talk about solidarity for fair wages, we mustn't forget to stand with folks who are innocent in this fight,” Jones said. “Residents didn’t cause this strike. They’re just trying to live through it. Refusing people a safe, sanitary option — especially elders, the disabled, and families — isn’t solidarity. It’s cruelty disguised as politics.”

Jones pledged his support for the union, saying residents and politicians can push for a contract while caring for the community, and rejected an “either/or.” “Let’s stop turning our neighbors into targets,” he continued. “Let’s stop expecting the most vulnerable to carry the burden.”

Of the city’s 63 temporary dropoff locations, the only Chestnut Hill site was a private property with no dumpster, and was later removed from the list. Owners of that site at 100 E. Mermaid Lane expressed confusion about why they were listed, and area residents arriving with trash found a chained-off fence. The closure adds more residents to the 200,000 who live a mile or more away from a dropoff site.