NYC Contract Talks Begin For 33,000 Building Workers

NEW YORK, NY — Contract negotiations began between building owners and the union representing more than 33,000 residential building service workers across the City, opening talks that will determine pay, benefits and working conditions for thousands of doormen, porters and superintendents.

The first bargaining session took place between the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations and 32BJ SEIU, the union representing residential building workers in thousands of apartment buildings throughout the city.

The current labor agreement expires at midnight on April 20.

The Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations formed in 1933 to represent building owners in negotiations with building service workers.

The organization now bargains on behalf of employers in one of the most unionized sectors of the city’s workforce.

“Over the next 46 days, the union and industry must come together to negotiate a contract that will provide for a sustainable future of the industry,” Howard Rothschild, president of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, said.

The negotiations cover workers in more than 3,000 residential buildings across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The workforce includes doorpersons, porters, handypersons and building superintendents who maintain and operate many of the City’s apartment buildings.

The agreement under negotiation follows a contract reached in 2022. The building service sector has expanded since then, adding more than 2,100 jobs, according to the Realty Advisory Board.

Under the current contract, an average doorperson or porter earns about $62,000 a year. Total annual employer costs exceed $112,000 per worker once benefits are included, while costs for a handyperson exceed $119,000.

Employees receive employer-paid health coverage that includes medical, dental, optical and prescription drug benefits with no employee premium contribution.

The negotiations continue a decades-long collective bargaining relationship between building owners and the union.

Labor agreements between the union and building owners have remained uninterrupted for more than 30 years. The last residential building workers strike in New York City occurred in 1991, following an earlier strike in the 1970s.