Philadelphia city unions blame Nutter for no contracts

Ending months of near-silence, city union leaders railed against Mayor Nutter on Monday, blaming him for the 15 months that thousands of their members have worked with no new contracts.

But don't expect a strike, said Pete Matthews, president of District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. He said his members would continue to "protect the citizens of this city."

A strike could also let the Nutter administration legally impose its "last, best offer" contract terms - a move otherwise prohibited as long as union employees are working.

Matthews and about 100 of his union's members protested outside the Convention Center, where hundreds of people heard President Obama speak Monday evening on behalf of Democratic Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak.

"We want the mayor to sit down and negotiate a fair contract, and stop playing city employees off of citizens. We're citizens, too," Matthews said.

He alluded to a comment Nutter made at an investment-related news conference in New York City last week. The mayor implored City Council members to choose between siding with "the citizens of Philadelphia" in ending the controversial DROP retirement program, or with unions and others who want to keep DROP intact.

"I'm for a fair contract, too," Nutter said in a statement. "It just has to be fair to the 1.5 million residents of Philadelphia, not only city workers. These recent economic difficulties have just highlighted a structural problem with the city budget - too much money goes to pensions and health care, and too little goes to city services."

Just one of four municipal contracts has been renewed. Last December, arbitrators awarded the police union a new deal, with salary increases but long-term health care and pension savings, and they are expected soon to award similar terms to firefighters.

But since December, there have been no face-to-face bargaining sessions between the administration and District Councils 33 and 47, which together represent about 13,000 nonuniformed workers.

"We don't think he's two-faced, we think he's three-faced," D.C. 47 president Cathy Scott said Monday, referring to inflammatory posters of Nutter being handed out during the protest.

Some posters accused Nutter of being antiunion, while others castigated him as a dictator.

Matthews sought to emphasize his union's political clout, especially when it comes to casting votes on Election Day.

The Democratic mayoral primary will take place in May, and while former mayoral contenders Sam Katz and Tom Knox are possible candidates, Nutter so far faces no announced challenger.