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Union organizing is spreading across new corners of Philadelphia’s workforce, reinforcing the city’s long-standing reputation as a labor stronghold.
In the past five years, the intensity of labor organization has grown across the city, including six new unions forming at the University of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, local workers at Starbucks, World Cafe Live and Whole Foods have unionized or walked off the job. Just last month, prosecutors in District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office announced intentions to unionize, bringing the labor wave into city government.
Krasner declined to comment on the potential formation of the union itself in a statement, but noted that he is pro-union.
A union town since 1794
The recent surge in local labor organization builds on centuries of union efforts in Philadelphia. The first known union, first strikes and first strike funds in America all happened in the city, and the network of labor support that has existed since is the reason people say “Philly is a union town.”
Over 200 years since that first union of shoemakers formed in 1794, union members from across the city say their support networks, collective action efforts and relationships with city officials have helped labor keep its power in the city they call home.
“Working people have respect for unions in Philly,” Robert Harris, vice president and legislative director of AFSCME DC 47, said. “We have grit here in Philadelphia. That’s synonymous with union fights.”
Thanks to their collective power, unions have become a strong local political force, said Maggie Mullooly, the communications director for the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is considered an umbrella organization for Philadelphia labor, allowing the city’s unions space to collaborate, share ideas and strategize politically.
“Candidates are always looking for our endorsements because they know that we are able to mobilize and engage our members to go to the polls,” Mullooly said. She added that AFL-CIO has been working to cultivate that “union town” mentality among the workers it supports in multiple ways — not just with the t-shirts, stickers and signs present at every picket line.
“It’s in the way that we show up for the city,” she said. “When I-95 collapsed, right away, Gov. Josh Shapiro and the mayor made a concerted effort to ensure that union labor was the labor completing this job, because we know that they know that we work fast, we work hard, and we get the job done right the first time.”
The highway reopened after just 12 days of round-the-clock work.
‘Stronger and bolder than ever’
Some argue that unions can give workers less individual autonomy or create workplace tensions, while others say that unions have undue political influence that can lead to corruption. In 2024, John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, a former union leader of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers started a six-year prison sentence for bribing a City Council member and embezzling funds from the union he led.
However, the sentiment towards labor in Philadelphia and nationally is still largely positive, and Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO President Danny Bauder added that the mentality of labor groups supporting each other was one of the most important principles for him when he assumed his role in 2023.
“In this moment, in 2026, unions in Philadelphia are stronger and bolder than ever before,” he said. “Working people writ large in the city are really eager to organize and take their power.”
He added that AFL-CIO aims to give every worker who wants one and is able to be in one a space in a union.
“All of us are fighting the same enemy,” said Richard Hooker, the principal officer and secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 623, said. Employers “want to dominate the workforce and extract as much profit as possible. Unions’ responsibility is to fight back and ensure each member gets what they demand and deserve.”
‘We’ve earned that title’
Hooker also highlighted unions’ positive relationships with city officials and representatives, including City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier and City Council Majority Leader Katharine Gilmore Richardson, who he said have supported workers in their struggles against employers.
“Philadelphia isn’t just called a union town, we’ve earned that title,” Gauthier wrote in a statement. “Here at City Council, everyday Philadelphians are our compass. Unions tell us what their members are facing and where City Hall can make a real difference. That direct relationship is how we’ve been able to move legislation that puts real rights, protections, and resources in workers’ hands.”
Richardson wrote in a statement that “organized labor is a beacon of hope and solidarity in an increasingly divided world.”
“If we want Philadelphia to thrive, we must ensure the unions that power this city can thrive as well,” she wrote.
Members of several labor organizations across Philadelphia said that when one union needs assistance — even if they aren’t based in the city — other groups step up and promote collective action.
In 2023, when the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA each went on strike, halting film and television production, unions and actors in Philadelphia demonstrated their support. Multiple rallies were held at City Hall and included representatives of trade unions like the Teamsters, including one that featured “Abbott Elementary” actors Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter, who spoke in support of the unions’ efforts.
Unionized graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania narrowly averted a strike earlier this year, securing a historic contract after beginning negotiations in late 2024. A few days before the union’s strike deadline, Teamsters UPS drivers announced they would stand in solidarity with the group and not deliver packages to Penn’s campuses for the duration of a strike.
Briheem Douglass, the vice president of UNITE HERE Local 274, which represents hotel and food service workers across the city, said that his union plans to strike against hotels during the World Cup this summer if it is still fighting for a contract.
“We’re really happy that other unions are taking an approach to strike when they need to for the members in the working class,” he said, pointing to AFSCME District Council 33’s strike last summer, when thousands of blue-collar city workers stopped work over pay negotiations. The strike lasted eight days and disrupted trash collection, 911 emergency dispatch, and other city services, which affected and frustrated many city residents. “It’s a fabulous thing when folks come together and move together,” Douglass added.
DC 47 also voted to authorize a strike last summer, but extended its negotiation period and reached a contract with the city before needing to join the picket lines.
“When one of us [is] fighting, all of us should be fighting,” Hooker said. “Nobody’s by themselves in the struggle.”
