NYC Doormen, Supers Approve Strike That Could Start Next Week
Thousands of building workers are preparing to go on strike next week in a move that could leave 3,500 residential co-ops, condos and apartment buildings in New York City without essential services.
More than 10,000 members of the Local 32BJ branch of the Service Employees International Union rallied on Park Avenue on Wednesday to vote in favor of the strike. As many as 34,000 doormen, superintendents and other workers could participate in the labor stoppage.
The union is in negotiations over a four-year contract that expires Monday night. If they don’t reach an agreement with building owner representatives by the time the clock strikes midnight, workers could initiate the union’s first strike in more than three decades.
Members are demanding wage increases, pension improvements and the protection of all benefits. They claim that the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, which represents apartment owners and managers, is seeking to shift healthcare costs onto workers.
“The real estate industry is raking it in, and they want to cut into our paychecks? No way,” Luis Ayala, a porter at a Manhattan co-op and a five-year 32BJ SEIU member, said in a statement.
Like other members, Ayala said that he can’t afford to keep up with rising living costs.
The median Manhattan apartment rent hit $5K a month for the first time in February, while Brooklyn rents also reached a new record at roughly $4,200, according to Corcoran Group. The vacancy rate is still below 2%.
Ayala said he has been forced to move out of the city and commutes more than two hours to work every day.
“Residents know they can rely on me to show up and keep the building running smoothly,” Ayala said in a statement. “But we’re ready to walk off the job if that’s what it takes.”
The union said the majority of the workers covered by the contract don’t work in rental buildings — 22% are in condos and 43% are in co-ops. Of the 35% that are rentals, “a substantial portion” of apartments that would be affected are market-rate.
If the two groups are unable to come to terms, 1.5 million residents would be left without visitor screening, package intake, trash removal and building maintenance.
The last strike, which took place in 1991, dragged on for 12 days.
“The New York City residential real estate industry is facing mounting pressures, including the likelihood of 0 percent rent increases on stabilized units for years to come, overregulation, and rising operating costs,” RAB President Howard Rothschild said in a statement, according to The Real Deal.
At Wednesday’s rally, protesters were joined by several high-powered officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Comptroller Mark Levine and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
“Under our administration, New York is, and will always be, a union town,” Mamdani said in a statement. “We are sending a clear message to every building owner that the hardworking members of 32BJ will not be pushed around by anyone. They deserve a fair contract that values their contributions to our neighborhoods and to our city.”
