PHILADELPHIA—Members of Philadelphia’s largest city workers’ union took to the streets on Wednesday, the second day of a strike for higher pay and improved benefits.

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees District Council 33 (DC 33) represents more than 9,000 blue-collar workers.

Sanitation workers, librarians, water treatment employees, and 911 dispatchers gathered on a drizzly morning near City Hall, at libraries, and outside the Broad Street police station, waving placards and chanting, “Decent! Wages!”

Negotiations between DC 33 and the mayor broke down late Monday evening.

On Tuesday, Judge Sierra Thomas-Street of the Court of Common Pleas issued an injunction against some parts of the strike, ordering many of the 911 dispatchers back to work to ensure public safety.

She also ordered some of the water treatment employees to return to work, and told picketers not to block city building entrances.

The workers are seeking an 8 percent pay increase every year for the next four years, to keep up with inflation and the higher cost of living. Their proposal also asks for increased benefits and “pandemic bonus” payments for workers who stayed on the job during COVID-19.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherrelle Parker has countered with an offer of 8 percent total, spread out over three years.

In a Facebook post addressing the crisis, Parker described herself as “unapologetically pro-union and pro-worker.”

She said she wanted a “fair and fiscally responsible contract” for “the men and women who keep our city moving.”

Parker said she and the four previous mayors had all negotiated pay increases with the union, but her proposal would be the largest one-term increase so far, totaling more than 12 percent—if the workers choose to accept.

“In my first year, we agreed to a 5 percent pay increase for District Council 33 workers. That’s the highest one-year pay increase that the union has received in over 30 years,” she said.

In the meantime, libraries are closed, and trash is piling up.

Retired sanitation worker Robert G. told The Epoch Times that he didn’t expect the strike to go on longer than a few weeks, but warned that the accumulating garbage may attract rats.

“They’ll come up out of the sewer when they smell that food,” he said.

Some of the union workers told The Epoch Times that they only want fair wages.

“The city is not offering anything besides just above cost-of-living increase,” custodian Robert Lambert said. “We deserve more than that.”

Max Weisman, a spokesman for City Councilman Isaiah Thomas, chatted with the striking workers on Wednesday morning. He told The Epoch Times that he hoped a compromise could be reached.

“We believe that it doesn’t have to be an ‘us or them’ situation. We unequivocally stand with the workers in the union, but I don’t believe that standing with the workers has to be anti-anybody,” he said.

“I believe that when we come to the table, if everybody truly listens to what everybody needs, we can find a way to end this in a way that’s good for the city and good for the workers.”

A DC 33 press spokesman declined to issue a statement about the strikes.