NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York City apartment residents are being put on notice of a potential strike by building staff as soon as next month as the union representing the workers and an advisory board to building owners negotiate a new labor contract.
Property owners are alerting occupants of 3,500 co-ops, condos and apartment buildings across the five boroughs that services will decrease if a work suspension begins on April 21. That’s the day after the four-year-old contract expires for nearly 34,000 doormen, porters and maintenance workers.
If there’s a strike, residents will need to wear badges to enter buildings, non-emergency renovation work will stop and moving in or out of the buildings will halt, according to notices sent this month to residents at three separate buildings.The Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, or RAB, says the city’s housing industry faces the prospect of diminished income with a potential freeze on rent increases looming for about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, seeking to deliver on his campaign promise to freeze rents, last month announced six new appointments to the nine-member panel that governs rent-stabilized units.
Contract Positions
The RAB is asking the workers to contribute to their health-care premiums and to form a “Tier II” classification for future employees hired under the new contract, according to a statement released Tuesday.
The union — 32BJ SEIU — called RAB’s latest offer “insulting,” according to a statement from the labor organization. The union says workers in the proposed new tier would earn less than their counterparts and that RAB wants to use more temporary staff, according to the statement.
“Our members are fighting to live with dignity in the city they serve every day,” Manny Pastreich, 32BJ SEIU’s president, said in the statement. “Through snowstorms, global pandemics, and even in the face of violence, our members are there. We won’t let the real estate industry cut costs on the backs of these essential workers.”
Representatives from RAB and 32BJ SEIU declined to provide the specific wage increases they’re seeking while negotiations continue. The union wants to maintain workers’ health insurance that’s fully covered by employers, wage increases that keep up with inflation, stronger pension benefits and better working conditions and paid leave.
The talks come as working families contend with high grocery costs, rising gasoline prices and other affordability issues. A strike would mean thousands of buildings throughout the city would have to scale back day-to-day operations that keep apartments in good repair, ensure packages get delivered to residential units, oversee moves into and out of buildings and allow construction workers to renovate apartments.
The parties are set to meet again on March 30 to continue negotiating. The two sides avoided a strike in 2022 by reaching a deal that boosted annual wages by an average of 3% over four years, along with a one-time bonus of $3,000.
The last work stoppage by door workers was in 1991 and members have yet to vote on such a move, according to the union. The average doorperson or porter earns about $62,000 a year, according to RAB.
“To keep the industry strong going forward, we must continue to work together to negotiate a fair contract that ensures its long-term sustainability,” Howard Rothschild, RAB’s president, said in a statement Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Mayor Mamdani didn’t immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.
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