Frustration is growing among some Philadelphia workers who say they haven't been paid for helping clean the city during a blue-collar union strike.
While District Council 33 was on strike over the July 4 holiday, trainees with the Philly Future Track program stepped in, working 12-hour shifts - sometimes longer - to keep the city clean.
Philly Future Track is a six-month paid workforce development program launched by the Streets Department that provides job training and readiness.
The city and DC 33 reached a tentative agreement on July 9, bringing union members back to work. But Future Track trainees told Action News they still haven't received the pay they earned during the eight-day strike.
"They promised us we are gonna get the same pay as sanitation workers, and we ain't receive nothing," one trainee said.
The trainees said they jumped at the opportunity to earn higher wages, overtime and holiday pay, with some cleaning up the Parkway after the Fourth of July. They told Action News were told the money was coming last Friday, then this Friday - but still nothing.
"I just got off the phone with my landlord," one worker said. "I told him, 'I'm not sure the next time I'll have money to pay rent. My daughter needs school books.'"
The city said the Sanitation Department is working with the Finance Department to issue supplemental checks to the Future Track trainees whose checks are short. Officials apologized, saying the trainees' work has been invaluable.
Some workers said they are missing between 68 and 216 hours of pay.
The city did not provide a timeline for when payments will be issued but said it is investigating to ensure workers are paid accordingly.