August 27, 2014

Dear Members of District Council 33:

We have a contract. The war is over.

A week ago, I discussed with you in detail our ongoing battles with the City and
the difficulties weve faced winning a fair contract. As most of you know, we have won
this battle. We have a fair contract, and maybe even more important, we are not
Wisconsin.

What do I mean by that? At the beginning of this fight, the City tried to gut our
contract. We refused to bend. We worked with the City through the biggest depression
since the 1930s to get the City back on its feet financially. But, back on its feet, what
thanks did we get? The City sued us! In an act reminiscent of recent Tea Party efforts in
Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and other states to emasculate the labor movement, the
Mayor went to the State Supreme Court for permission to impose his final offer on all
of us. Not only would this have derailed any realistic possibility of our continuing to
collectively bargain a fair contract, it would have basically wrecked the ability of all
public sector unions everywhere in Pennsylvania to negotiate with public employers with
any reasonable likelihood of getting new, fair agreements. If we lost this case, we would
have gone back to the time when workers would get only what the boss wanted not
what we should be entitled to. The Mayors legal action, clearly, was aimed at one thing:
Destroy the labor movement.

As I explained in my letter, we beat back the Supreme Court attack when the
court denied the Citys effort and sent the case back to Common Pleas Court. The
Common Pleas Court held trial last month, and while we remained optimistic the Judge
would throw out the Citys case, the possibility loomed that, when the Supreme Court
got the case back on appeal, it would agree with the City, change the law, and permit
the City to impose its final offer.

One immense part of our contract settlement is this: The City has agreed to
voluntarily end this law suit. This massive threat against the entire labor movement in
Pennsylvania, because of our contract, is now over. Pennsylvania will not become
another Wisconsin.

This letter is part of the package the American Arbitration Association is sending
to all union members of District Council 33 to enable you to vote to ratify, or reject, the
tentative agreement we reached at approximately 10 p.m. last Thursday night, August
21, 2014. Also enclosed is the Memorandum of Agreement itself, and a summary of the
most important terms of the new agreement. Last week I sent you copies of the Citys
final offer, which was on the table from mid-January 2013 till last Thursday night, and
our most recent proposal made several weeks ago. In the final Memorandum of
Agreement you will be able to see those portions of the final offer we were able to
stop. We used the pressure of the Democratic National Committees considering
Philadelphia as one of the sites for the 2016 Democratic National Convention to help
get us this contract. Weve relied on our allies in City Council. Weve worked behind the
scenes to finally get you a decent contract, NOW.

I recommend that you read the summary and the memorandum, then vote to
ratify this contract.

Judge for yourself what is in it:
An immediate (September 1) 3.5% wage increase
At the same time (within 30 days of ratification) a bonus of $2800 dollars
Another increase in 10 months of 2.5%
Increased contributions into our Health & Welfare Fund to allow our plan to
continue without increased member contributions
NO CHANGE in when layoffs can be done, and NO FURLOUGH DAYS
Restore lost step and longevity increases
Life Insurance benefit increased by $5000 to $25,000
Tool allowance increase

There is an increase of one percent in contributions you must make into the
Pension Fund (spread out over the next two years: 5% in January 2015 and another 5%
in January 2016).

BUT, we sought to minimize the effect of that increase, because two-thirds of that
1% will, on average, be offset by this contracts having made the $50 HW payments
PRETAX meaning the $50 payments (and pension contributions) will now be TAX-
FREE resulting in an average tax savings of over $250 per year which wont go to
Uncle Sam it will go in your pocket.

Finally, we moved the City off its overtime proposal, and it is much less severe
than originally proposed. Rather than not counting sick, holidays, funeral and AL days in
calculating 40 hours as the City wanted, this agreement only will not count sick days.

Weekly overtime (overtime worked on your day off after 40 hours worked in a
week) will be impacted by use of sick leave, on an hour-for-hour basis. But sick leave
usage will NOT affect payment for daily overtime (overtime worked the same day you
have already worked your regular 8 hours). Other paid leave taken during a workweek
also will NOT affect your right to be paid at the regular overtime rates for ANY overtime
you work.

The value of this contract isnt just in what it contains but in what the City DIDNT
get in its initial proposals:
The City wanted to effectively take over our Health & Welfare Fund;
Reduce post-retirement health benefits from 5 years to 3 years;
Make every members pension a 401(k);
Reduce three holidays;
Reduce sick days to 10 per year (and require doctors notes for all sick leave
usage);
Change disciplinary, discharge and grievance procedures;
Change work schedules;
Increase probation from six months to one year; and,
Permit the City to furlough any member, at any time, for up to 30 days a year!

The City, in this contract, got NONE of those proposals. In its final offer on the
table for the last 19 months, until last Thursday night the City still insisted on 15
FURLOUGH DAYS (almost a 6% wage DECREASE), eliminate most paid nonwork time
from the calculation of 40 hours, eliminate all double time, and wage increases
significantly lower than what was finally agreed to. Plus, the City was still fighting us in
court to get the right to IMPOSE all this on us, without having to bargain over it!

Remember the climate we are bargaining in today. Had we agreed to a contract
several years ago, during this centurys Great Recession, you could have kissed any
wage increases goodbye, and would have lost many other benefits. Despite an
improved economy since then, private industry continues massive layoffs and moving
plants south of the border or overseas. Legislatures in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan,
throughout the south, even in California, have hampered or even eliminated collective
bargaining rights, under the tea party banner of free enterprise, freedom to choose,
and right to work the right-wing slogan for right to work for less.

Billions of dollars of pension systems are being converted to far-less beneficial
and risky 401(k) plans or done away with entirely. And this is not just in the private
sector; even traditionally liberal states, with left-leaning Democratic governors, are
stripping public sector workers of their pension rights in California, New York, and
Illinois. These threats are very, very real, and our Executive Board and I had to keep
these challenges in mind when negotiating this contract.

What will we get when this contract is ratified? Wage and benefit INCREASES.
NO FURLOUGH DAYS. PREVENTING LOSING OUR PENSION to a 401(k) plan.
STOPPING the TAKEOVER OF OUR HEALTH & WELFARE. And, we return, 22
months from now, to bargain a new contract with a new Mayor.

As I said in my letter last week: our Union Executive Board and I cant thank you
enough for sticking by us in this long fight. Yes, we waited five long years five years of
hard work fighting to have the City continue paying your wages, your pension, and your
health care benefits. All the members FOUGHT to keep this! Not to mention WE WON
THE FIGHT TO PRESERVE OUR RIGHT TO COLLECTIVELY BARGAIN! Without that,
there would be no Union and your wages and benefits would be dictated entirely by
the City. That is a huge victory for all.

What we achieved is substantial. And we achieved this without a strike which, on
average, would have cost our members practically 2% of their wage package each
week they were out. Im proud of our Executive Board for making the hard choices that
resulted in a very positive outcome under very adverse circumstances. We hope to do
even better next time, with a new Mayor. And this will be through collective bargaining
not the threat of an unlawful unilateral imposition by the City without bargaining.

Ratify means the tentative agreement with all the changes described
above will immediately go into effect. Reject means back to the bargaining
table, with the Mayors lawsuit back in court and his old final offer still on the
table.

Please mark and return your ballots after you have read and considered the
enclosed information. Mail your completed ballot back to the AAA so it is RECEIVED by
September 9, 2014, the day AAA will count all ballots received by that time. All
preparing, mailing, receiving and counting of ballots will be done solely by the American
Arbitration Association.

Our thanks again for staying strong and united.




IN SOLIDARITY,




PETE MATTHEWS
President, District Council 33