Baltimore’s sanitation workers and other blue collar employees will be guaranteed wage increases and new safety measures under a contract tentatively agreed to this week, the first for the union representing rank-and-file sanitation workers since an employee died on the job in August 2024.

The agreement, reached between city leaders and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees after months of negotiations, calls for a 19% raise to be phased in over the course of the three-year contract. The increase will amount to roughly $30,000 for some members, depending on their years of service and experience, according to a news release from the union. The contract will begin retroactively on July 1.

A step scale for wages will be implemented for the first time, and members will also receive a cost of living increase of 2.5% in year two and 2.75% in year three.

The deal includes enhancements to the powers of the union’s health and safety committees, giving the union the ability to collect more records and have better access to work sites. The city and the union agreed to an increase in hazard pay, wages paid to people working in hazardous physical conditions. All Department of Public Works employees in routine service will be eligible.

Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Maryland, called the agreement “groundbreaking” and said he was confident it would be approved. Moran said the “tragedies” experienced by DPW likely played a role in pushing city officials to accept the deal, but he also credited AFSCME leadership for laying the groundwork years in advance.

“It’s going to change some people’s lives drastically,” Moran said.

Mayor Brandon Scott said the agreement is evidence of his commitment to raise wages for city laborers.

“They have some of the most important jobs in Baltimore, and it is our responsibility to take care of the folks who take care of us,” he said.

Union members must still vote to ratify the agreement, which will then face a vote of the mayor-controlled Board of Estimates.

The agreement, which covers about 2,200 city employees in blue-collar roles, comes a little more than a year after Ronald Silver II died of heat exhaustion during his shift as a garbage collector on a day when the heat index reached 105 degrees. Witnesses said Silver knocked on a resident’s door and begged for water before succumbing to the heat.

Silver’s death became a flashpoint for the Department of Public Works, which was already under fire after Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming issued several scathing reports about the poor working conditions.

The City Council hosted emotional hearings in the aftermath of Silver’s death, at which members and workers accused the department of fostering a toxic workplace.

Grief in the department deepened in November when sanitation worker Timothy Cartwell was killed, crushed between a garbage truck and a wooden light pole in West Baltimore.

In a news release Friday, Dorothy Bryant, president of AFSCME Local 44 who represents rank and file sanitation workers as well as laborers in the departments of transportation, recreation and parks and general services, said the tentative contact is the strongest she has seen in her 55 years of working for the city. Bryant is retiring this year.

“I am excited that this agreement sets up a strong foundation for both current and future city employees to come,” she said.

The bulk of the workers covered by the agreement work for Local 44, which represents city sanitation crews, but the contract will also cover Local 558, which represents some nurses in the city’s Health Department, and Local 2202 representing human service workers in the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success.

Local 558 will get a nearly 14% wage increase over the three-year deal, while Local 2202 will see a 12% boost.