Union Building-Workers Overwhelmingly Ratify New Four-Year Contract
May 14, 2014 — Following the agreement last month between union leaders and representatives for New York City building-owners, including cooperatives and condominium associations, the new contract for the city's 30,000 union doormen, superintendents, handymen and porters has been formally ratified. It provides a cumulative 11.3 percent raise over the next four years, and keeps intact pension benefits and family health care fully paid by the employer.
This will bring wages for a typical doormen or porter in Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to $49,402 by 2018. More than 98 percent of the workers voted in favor of the contract, according to the union.
The contract approved by 32BJ residential members was tentatively agreed to by the union and the building-owners representative, the Realty Advisory Board for Labor Relations (RAB), on April 11. Members ratified the deal by mail ballot and the results were tallied on Monday morning at 32BJ SEIU headquarters in Manhattan. The new contract will expire on April 20, 2018.
“This contract takes a small step toward reversing the inequality that has spiraled in this city,” said 32BJ president Héctor Figueroa.
RAB president Howard Rothschild was equally pleased, telling the website CapitalNewYork.com, "Once again, the real estate community and 32BJ have come together to help drive our economy and grow middle-class jobs."
Figueroa said the union "is now taking the campaign for fair wage increases and to maintain health and retirement benefits to The Bronx, Hudson Valley and New Jersey. We have also turned our attention to the small number of luxury buildings, such as some of those [along] the High Line in Manhattan, that refuse to pay their employees a decent wage and affordable health care."
The contract for the 500 building workers at Co-op City in The Bronx expires next month, with the contract for Hudson Valley building workers expiring in September.
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