AFSCME Local 47 Files Lawsuit Against City of Philadelphia

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A municipal union that represents thousands of workers in Philadelphia has filed a civil lawsuit against the city in an attempt to block Mayor Cherelle Parker’s back-to-work mandate.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, aka AFSCME, represents about 3,700 administrative, professional and technical support workers in Philadelphia as part of District Council 47, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

AFSCME says the city must negotiate with the union before making any changes to its remote work policy because it is in the contract and the city has negotiated alternative work schedules in the past. AFSCME’s contract expired June 30, but was extended for another month to continue negotiations.

The union argues that eliminating all remote work “would cause significant harm to city workers and throw city services into chaos,” according to the lawsuit.

The city already has thousands of unfilled jobs, and union leaders fear that “many more positions will become vacant as employees are unable to adapt to the new demands of the office.”

Many are already working hybrid schedules, said April Gigetts, president of AFSCME District Council 47.

“It’s a misconception that our members are all working remotely five days a week, that’s not the case. The majority of our members are working two or three days in the office,” Gigetts said. “We really feel like this is a retention and recruitment issue. I know people are planning to leave and some have already left.”

In late May, Mayor Parker announced that 26,000 city employees would return to work five days a week starting July 15.

Hundreds of unionized city workers pushed back against the administration’s productivity argument at a City Council committee hearing in June on the back-to-work policy.

City Administrative Director Camille Duchaussee told the city council that Mayor Parker’s decision was not motivated by a desire to increase productivity.