Ousted AFSCME DC33 leader Ernest Garrett sued in hopes of running again. A federal judge said no.

Ernest Garrett’s first attempt to get his job back, as leader of the union that represents over 9,000 city workers, has failed.

Garrett was removed as president of AFSCME District Council 33 last month, and barred from running again for four years. In hopes of reclaiming his position in a May 14 election, Garrett filed a motion in federal court that would have allowed him to do so.

A federal judge denied Garrett’s motion on Thursday.

Garrett filed a lawsuit earlier this month against AFSCME, District Council 33, and the hearing officer who handled his case, alleging that his removal violated federal labor law. He also appealed to the AFSCME judicial panel to reverse his removal.

He asked the federal court for a preliminary injunction that would remove the limitation against him running for office. He argued that the court should step in because his union appeal would not be resolved before April 9, when DC33 is scheduled to nominate board candidates.

Garrett said Friday that he will continue to pursue his appeal and the federal lawsuit, even though he cannot run for DC33 president this year. “It’s more about principle,” he said.

The former union president has returned to working for the Philadelphia Water Department, he said, taking a role on the team that handles water service shut-offs and restorations.

Omar Salaam, who was elected to finish out Garrett’s term as president, declined to comment on the federal court order on Friday. Salaam had been vice president of DC33 under Garrett, and was among the group of union members who brought charges against Garrett to the union’s judicial panel last year.

DC33 board nominations will take place in person on April 9, and mail-in ballots will be sent to members on April 19. Ballots will be tallied on May 14.

The union’s current contract, negotiated in 2021 under Garrett’s leadership, expires just weeks after the DC33 election, at the end of June.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, facing the end of several contracts with unionized city workers, already reached one-year contract extensions with the police and fire and sheriff’s departments. Philadelphia’s public school teachers, counselors, and other workers also agreed to a one-year contract extension earlier this month.

Deputy Mayor Sinceré Harris said in a budget hearing on Tuesday that the administration is “very hopeful that we can sign maybe one or two more one-year extensions with our municipal workforce” this year.

Salaam on Friday declined to comment on the possibility of a one-year extension.