Joseph B. Bloom, 81, former chief labor negotiator for city of Philadelphia

Joseph B. Bloom, 81, the city’s director of labor relations during the Goode administration and later an arbitrator who handled more than 600 cases, died Tuesday, April 30, of a stroke at the Visiting Nurse Association Hospice.

From 1984 to 1992, Mr. Bloom was the city’s chief labor negotiator. In one notable action, in July 1986, he forged an agreement with AFSCME District Council 33, ending a 21-day strike by the city’s blue-collar union workers. City garbage piled up in the heat as talks went on.

The resulting two-year pact capped the city’s commitment to cover the union’s health and welfare costs, and gave the city the right to audit the fund. It also ended the mounds of garbage when sanitation workers returned to work.

“If there’s one thing this administration has done,” Mr. Bloom told The Inquirer, “it has brought a management agenda to the bargaining table — and I do think that’s an accomplishment.”

Former Pennsylvania Gov. and Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, a friend of Mr. Bloom’s, said that even though he sat on the management side of the table, he was respected by all parties.

"He was a forerunner and visionary in the field of municipal labor relations," Rendell said. "Nowhere is the practice more difficult than in Philadelphia, but Joe did an incredible job of keeping a balance between the needs of the taxpayers and maintaining fairness to municipal workers."

In 1989, in talks between the Philadelphia Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police, Mr. Bloom helped hammer out changes in work shifts designed to put more police on the city streets during busy crime periods. The changes were rejected by the rank and file, but were successfully reshaped in 1990 following arbitration.

“Joe was the bridge through all of that until it reached a conclusion,” said Richard B. Costello, retired president of FOP Lodge 5. “He was a perfect opponent. His integrity shined when you were across the negotiating table from him. He always played by the rules.”

From 1992 to 2007, Mr. Bloom was an arbitrator for SEPTA. He also made himself available as a neutral arbitrator through the American Arbitration Association.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Mr. Bloom worked as an arbitrator in 600 cases between 1999 and 2009. Of those, 250 were in the private sector, 200 involved teachers, and 150 involved other public-sector matters.

Mr. Bloom was known for his gentleness and sense of humor. He was an avid lover of jazz, opera, and Shakespeare, and was so enthralled by James Joyce’s Ulysses that he studied it for two years. His brother, James, said Mr. Bloom liked to regale the wait staff at the Mayfair Diner by reciting long passages in spot-on Irish brogue.

"It would drive his friends crazy," his brother said.

"Joe was a true intellectual," said James Martin, who worked with Mr. Bloom in the labor relations field. "His unaffected manner and self-deprecating humor may have masked this feature, but those who knew him well were well aware of the depth of his intellect."

Born in Mayfair, Mr. Bloom graduated from La Salle College High School and what is now La Salle University. To help pay for college, Mr. Bloom played the drums with a Philadelphia group called the Men from UNCLE. He served two years in the Army.

In 1968, he married Juanita “Pat” Bloom. The couple had three children, whom they raised in Philadelphia.

In addition to his wife and brother, Mr. Bloom is survived by sons Gregory and Vincent; daughter Karen Underwood; and two granddaughters.

Services will be private.

Memorial donations may be made to the Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19111, or the Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, Ala. 36104.