It's Contract Time – Time to Prepare for the Worst

Wise co-op and condo board hope for the best but prepare for the worst – especially now, when negotiators are hammering out a new contract with the 31,000 unionized building service workers in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. The current four-year contract expires at midnight on Friday, April 20. 

Negotiators for the Realty Advisory Board for Labor Relations (RAB) are currently in talks with their counterparts at the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) Local 32BJ, and while there has not been a strike since 1991, the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums (CNYC) is urging boards to prepare for a worst-case scenario. 

To that end, Howard Rothschild, president of RAB and lead negotiator on behalf of management, will explain the contract negotiation process and will offer pointers on preparing your building in advance to cope with a possible strike at a workshop on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 P.M, at a location to be announced. There is no fee for representatives of co-ops and condos that belong to the CNYC, the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives  and Condominiums, the Community Associations Institute, or the Association of Riverdale Cooperatives to attend this session; others are welcome at a fee of $50 in advance or $75 at the door. Advance reservations are required. Call the CNYC office at (212) 496-7400, or send an e-mail to workshops@CNYC.coop, or click here to register online.

Under the current contract, all unionized doormen and porters receive a pension, access to a 401(k), and up to 49 paid days off annually. Their average annual salary is $49,000, and the average value of their compensation package, including benefits, is $85,000. Hope for the best, but expect that to change.