Greg Boulware has unseated Omar Salaam as president of the largest union for Philadelphia city workers, ending a fiercely contested election and setting the stage for high-stakes contract negotiations with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration.
The election to lead the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ District Council 33, an umbrella union that represents about 9,000 city workers in blue-collar jobs, came after former president Ernest Garrett was ousted in February.
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Boulware previously led Local 394, which represents Water Department workers and is one of the 15 unions that make up DC 33. Boulware is an ally of Garrett’s, and his election ends an intense power struggle, at least for now.
Salaam, of the sanitation workers’ Local 427, took over as DC 33′s interim president after he and other union officials ousted Garrett for making decisions without the executive board’s consent. (Garrett, who has denied wrongdoing, was prohibited by AFSCME from running in the election.)
» READ MORE: Police responded to AFSCME District Council 33′s offices after union leaders allegedly got into a fight
In a mail ballot runoff decided this week, Boulware won 1,636 votes, and Salaam got 1,460, according to Boulware spokesperson Bret Coles. Boulware was sworn in Tuesday, and his term will last four years.
Other members of Boulware’s “Back to Basics” slate also won, with Antoine Little becoming vice president and Joan Gallagher secretary-treasurer after they defeated Salaam’s “New Direction” slate.
Boulware said the message his slate tried to send was that it was “trying to get back to the essence of unionism and educating and training our people to mobilize” and bringing “some decency back and some integrity back to DC 33.”
“We’ve gotten a little bit away from the way that things should be as far as unionism,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
What does the DC 33 election mean for Philly?
Emotions are still raw following Garrett’s ouster. Last week police responded to DC 33′s headquarters when Boulware and Salaam got in a physical altercation that each man blames on the other. (No arrests have been made, and Boulware said a police investigation remains open.)
The conflict has roots going back to the early 1990s, when Herman “Pete” Matthews unseated James Sutton as DC 33 president following Sutton’s agreeing to major concessions in a contract with then-Mayor Ed Rendell that union members criticize to this day.
Salaam was aligned with Matthews, until Garrett defeated Matthews in a shocking upset in the 2020 election. Boulware and Garrett have ties to Sutton, with Garrett hiring his wife, Evon Sutton, as political director.
Boulware, however, rejected the idea that there are factions within DC 33 and said he was focused on uniting the union.
“My job as president will be to do what’s in the best interest of District Council 33,” he said. “We’re hoping to galvanize and keep everybody united.”
Salaam did not respond to an interview request Tuesday. Last week, he said that “the difference between Greg and I is I believe in accountability.”
“I believe that being a union officer, my priority is the membership,” Salaam said.
DC 33′s contract with the city expires this summer, and Parker has sought one-year contract extensions with the four major municipal unions as her new administration settles into office. The police and firefighters unions have already agreed to one-year deals. Neither DC 33 nor AFSCME’s DC 47, which represents the city’s non-uniformed white-collar workers, has reached an agreement.
Salaam had not ruled out a one-year deal, and Boulware campaigned in part on pushing for a traditional multiyear contract. The city this year is in a relatively strong financial position, and waiting until 2025 could risk an economic downturn that could leave the Parker administration with less available money during negotiations.
“It gives our people a little bit of long-term security,” Boulware said of a multiyear deal. “We have no idea what the financial outlook is for the city long term.”
He’s seeking pay raises and changes to the pension system. He also wants the city to alter the residency requirement for DC 33 members, who currently must live in the city throughout their careers, so that they get the same treatment as police officers, who are allowed to move out of Philly after five years on the job.
That could lead to an unwanted headache for the Parker administration, which last week wrapped up negotiations with City Council for a new $6.37 billion budget that takes effect July 1.
Parker and Salaam appeared aligned on many issues. During last year’s Democratic primary for mayor, Salaam led his local to take the unusual step of endorsing Parker and breaking with DC 33, which under Garrett had endorsed candidate Jeff Brown.
This year, Parker has made a point of bringing Salaam on stage with her for appearances such as a news conference on the city’s response to a snowstorm in January and a rally last week for her summer cleaning initiative.
Boulware said he’s confident that the mayor will understand DC 33′s needs.
“What we promised to our membership was to be strong advocates on their behalf,” he said. “I’m hopeful that the administration is willing to understand the plight of our people over these many years.”
Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.
