NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York City’s doormen and building workers are set to hold a strike vote on April 15 as their union and an advisory board to property owners have yet to reach agreement on a new labor contract.
Nearly 34,000 building staff will weigh in on a potential work suspension that could happen as soon as April 21, the day after the current four-year contract expires, according to an announcement Thursday from 32BJ SEIU, the union representing the workers.
“We won’t let the thriving real estate industry raise health care costs, jeopardize retirement security, and undermine the core fabric of a labor contract that thousands of working families depend on,” Manny Pastreich, 32BJ SEIU’s president, said in the statement. “We call on New Yorkers to join us and stand with the essential residential workers who show up for our city every day.”
Building owners have begun warning residents of a potential strike, which would upend day-to-day operations for 3,500 co-ops, condos and apartment properties throughout the city. Residents will need to wear badges to access their homes, renovation work and moving will be suspended, they said.
The Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, or RAB, wants the workers to contribute to their health-care premiums for the first time and to also form a “Tier II” classification for future employees hired under the new contract. The new employees would be paid at a lower rate, said the union, which called RAB’s proposals “insulting.”
Building owners are facing a potential freeze on rent increases on New York City’s 1 million rent stabilized apartments, Howard Rothschild, RAB’s president, said in a statement Thursday. The freeze could squeeze owners’ revenues.
“While we look forward to working with 32BJ to achieve a fair contract over the next month, we respect their right to authorize a strike and all our members are preparing for that possibility,” Howard said. “We are hopeful both sides will recognize and confront the realities facing the industry.”
More stories available on bloomberg.com.
