NEW YORK — A potential work stoppage that could have disrupted services for approximately 1.5 million New York City residents has been avoided after union representatives and property owners reached a preliminary contract agreement on Friday.
The agreement prevents nearly 34,000 building service employees — including doormen, building superintendents, and maintenance staff — from walking off the job when their current contract expires Monday at midnight.
Local 32BJ SEIU, the union representing these workers, has not staged a work stoppage in three and a half decades. City residents living in apartments, condominiums, and co-ops had been preparing for potential disruptions, including taking out their own garbage, handling package deliveries, and managing building security themselves.
Details of the preliminary agreement have not been disclosed yet. Union leadership and representatives from the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, which speaks for building owners, scheduled a Friday afternoon press conference to discuss the deal.
Union members will need to vote on whether to approve the preliminary contract.
Contract talks had become increasingly contentious in recent weeks. Union officials objected strongly to management proposals requiring workers to contribute to health insurance costs and establishing a lower-wage tier for newly hired employees.
Building service workers pushed for increased salaries and retirement benefits, arguing that their current average annual pay of approximately $62,000 for doormen — with different averages for other positions — makes it difficult to afford living expenses in the New York metropolitan area. Union members pointed out that property owners have been collecting significantly higher rental income in recent years, particularly for market-rate units in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The building owners’ association countered that union demands were excessive given rising operational expenses and the possibility of a rent freeze on one million rent-regulated apartments. This rent freeze proposal has received support from newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat who appeared alongside workers at a large Wednesday demonstration where they voted to authorize strike action.
The union’s most recent work stoppage occurred in 1991 and continued for 12 days.
