Dear Students, 

As you may be aware, as of midnight yesterday, the City of Philadelphia’s contract with AFSCME District Council 33, the bargaining unit that includes more than 9,000 city employees, expired, and these employees are now officially on strike. 

One of the areas that will be most impacted during the work stoppage is trash collection throughout the city, as it will not take place during the strike. Effective yesterday, all city residents have been directed to refrain from placing any trash or recycling out for curbside collection until further notice. This means that students living in off-campus residences should not place any trash out onto the curbs for collection. This not only goes against the City’s directive, but it also could violate Temple’s Good Neighbor Initiative. 

The university is currently working to develop an operations plan for the strike should it extend into next week. In the meantime, we encourage all students to follow the guidance provided by the City of Philadelphia.  

The City requests that all trash and recyclables be brought directly to specific drop-off centers, which will be open from 6 a.m. through 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The closest drop-off centers to campus are 

• 2601 W. Glenwood Ave.—trash and recycling;  
• North 8th Street and Master Street—trash pickup only; and 
• 3901 Delaware Ave.—recycling only. 

While we hope that an agreement between AFSCME District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia can be reached in a timely fashion, we appreciate your commitment to following our guidance during this work stoppage. 

Sincerely, 

Jodi Bailey Accavallo 
Vice President for Student Affairs