NEW YORK — The union representing doormen and other apartment building employees in New York City agreed to a new contract on Tuesday, after workers threatened a work stoppage that could have left luxurious lobbies unmanned across the city.
The deal, announced late Tuesday afternoon, came one day ahead of a deadline to reach an accord. About 32,000 workers — doormen, superintendents and handymen among them — were waiting on the new contract.
The Realty Advisory Board On Labor, which represents property owners and managers, said the four-year agreement would guarantee an average 3.2% annual wage increase for the workers and bring a typical doorman’s yearly salary to $62,000.
The current contract between the workers, who are represented by Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, was due to expire Wednesday. Residential building workers in New York City have not staged a strike since a 12-day stoppage in 1991, according to 32BJ.
In the end, Kyle Bragg, president of 32BJ, said negotiators reached a deal that satisfied both sides of the bargaining table. The contract covers workers at more than 3,000 residential buildings.
“There’s give-and-take on both sides,” Bragg said in a Midtown news conference on Tuesday. “But it’s an agreement that we’re all proud of, and we’re sure that their workforce, our members, will be equally proud of what we’ve achieved through this bargaining.”
Howard Rothschild, president of the Realty Advisory Board, said in the news conference that residential workers should be rewarded for trudging to work daily through a painful pandemic, and that the agreement displayed the real estate industry’s “respect for our essential workers.”
“Ultimately, I know both sides thoughtfully considered the economic hardships created by the pandemic and inflation,” Rothschild added.
Under the terms of the agreement, workers will receive a $3,000 bonus and continue to enjoy full employer-paid family health insurance coverage. The deal is tentative and must be ratified by union membership to take effect.
As late as Tuesday afternoon, the negotiations seemed to remain fluid. Sticking points in the talks revolved around employees’ health care costs and access to paid time off.
“While we have made progress over the past few weeks of negotiations, we still have a gap to bridge,” Rothschild said in the statement released earlier on Tuesday.
During the talks, 32BJ highlighted residential workers’ service across the pandemic. Last week, the workers voted to empower their bargaining committee to call a strike.
The Realty Advisory Board, meanwhile, emphasized the financial hardships landlords incurred during the health crisis, pointing to empty units, diving rents and heightened operating costs. But New York’s real estate market has roared back.
Some 10,000 building workers, by 32BJ’s estimate, flooded Park Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side last Wednesday to push for sturdy wages and complete health care benefits.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, dropped into the rally, dancing on the riser and leading a chant of “32-BJ!”
“Essential workers deserve a fair contract,” Schumer thundered. “You, my friends, have been serving on the front lines of this pandemic for two years. It’s time for your compensation — to match your importance to our city and our economy.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul appeared, too, rooting on the workers. “I’m not going to stop talking until labor wins their fights,” Hochul, a Democrat, declared. “I’m with you every step of the way.”
“They call you essential workers,” she added. “That sounds nice. But if they’re that essential, why don’t we pay them what they deserve?”
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