Retrieval of dead bodies is being delayed due to blue-collar union DC33 strike, Philadelphia officials say

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The City of Philadelphia is seeking a court order to get striking medical examiner’s office workers back on the job as the blue-collar workers’ walkout continues.

The strike means the office is experiencing delays in picking up the bodies of the deceased.

The city has filed an injunction that, if approved by a judge, would require employees of the medical examiner’s office to get back to work.

An example of the problem could be seen on Thursday morning in Germantown. A 19-year-old man died after being shot at 5:47 a.m. but, many hours later, his body was still lying in the street.

Chief Medical Examiner Lindsay Simon said in a court document that unrecovered bodies present a potential risk to public health.

The strike could also lead to a delay for bodies to be released from the morgue to grieving families, Simon wrote.

She went on to write that the morgue was already over capacity as of late Tuesday morning, just hours after the strike began.

For now, Simon wrote city employees redirected from other departments are filling in, but they are unable to keep up with the volume “as they lack the specialized certification and access to security sensitive software.”

Meanwhile, mountains of trash were piling up in parts of the city as the strike continued for a third day.

Sanitation workers are among the DC33 union members on the picket line, which means residential trash collection stopped when the strike was called at midnight Tuesday.

Chopper 6 was over a massive mound of garbage along Devereaux Avenue near Langdon Street in Northeast Philadelphia.

The city has set up dozens of trash collection sites, but that area is not one of them.

The latest round of negotiations began Wednesday but ended overnight without a deal.

It is now unclear if any new talks will be held on Thursday.