NYC Doormen and Building Workers Set Strike Vote as Contract Nears Expiration

Overview

• 32BJ SEIU moved to a formal strike vote after members authorized action, with a Park Avenue rally planned.
• The industrywide agreement covering about 34,000 doormen, porters, and maintenance workers expires in April, raising the risk of a walkout as soon as the contract ends.
• The Realty Advisory Board proposed that workers share health-care premiums and that future hires enter a lower-paid Tier II, an offer the union called insulting.
• Building managers have warned residents that a strike would require ID badges for entry, pause non-emergency renovation work, and halt move-ins and move-outs.
• Owners cite tight budgets, including a possible zero percent rent increase on roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, while both sides plan to keep negotiating next week.