It was business as usual today for thousands of city building workers, after their union avoided a strike that could have left hundreds of local and Columbia buildings without basic services.
New York City’s 32BJ union, a division of the Service Employees International Union, represents 30,000 workers, including those who work in University Apartment Housing buildings. UAH generally houses graduate students and faculty, but also oversees the undergraduate buildings 47 Claremont and Harmony Hall.
The union reached a contract agreement with the city’s Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations late Tuesday night, dodging a strike that would have taken doormen, maintenance workers, superintendents, and porters off the job.
On Wednesday, residents and workers alike were relieved that they didn’t have to deal with the inconveniences of a strike.
“Last night, when I saw the notice that there was probably going to be a strike, I was worried,” said Tammy Mutassa, Journalism ’10 and a resident of Carlton Arms on Riverside Drive. “This morning, when I walked out of the elevator and saw that my doorman was there, it was kind of a relief to see him.”
The resident manager at Carlton Arms, Ronald Pelissier, said that though he would have understood the need to strike, it can become a huge burden for residents.
“On top of all the stuff they deal with with school, they don’t need to deal with that,” he said of his 400 residents, adding, “It would have been bad for my building, so I’m glad we could come to a conclusion.”
Because the city’s Department of Sanitation has a history of not crossing picket lines, garbage would likely not have been picked up for the duration of the strike. When 32BJ last had its employees walk off the job in 1991, the strike—and the garbage—lasted for 12 days.
Loretta Zuk, the superintendent at 547 Riverside Drive, was around for that strike, but said that she wasn’t surprised that one was avoided this time around.
“We have this contract renewed every three or four years, and pretty much they settle when it comes down to it, because the city would be at a standstill,” she said. “Just the trash alone—people don’t want to have to deal with that.”
The union and the Realty Advisory Board had been negotiating the contract since March, but had disagreed on wage increases, sick days, and workers’ insurance payments.
The RAB released a statement that said they had “tentatively reached an agreement with Local 32BJ” for a four-year contract that includes “average increases of wages and benefits of 2.99% over the 4 years.”
According to 32BJ spokesperson Kwame Patterson, the new contract must go through a three-week approval process, and union members and the RAB board of directors will ultimately vote on the final terms.
Zuk said that she, for one, planned to vote for the new contract.
“I think it’s a fair settlement, and there could’ve been a better wage increase over four years, but I think they did well and averted a lot of unnecessary givebacks,” she said.
The union had set a deadline of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday to reach a settlement, and had prepared its workers to walk off the job at 7 a.m. if an agreement wasn’t reached.
They didn’t quite meet their own deadline, with a final contract agreed upon at 12:10, but Patterson said that didn’t matter to the negotiators.
“It was a tough fight. We weren’t shaking each others’ hands and saying, ‘Let’s take this to 12:01.’ It was extremely tough, but once the final word came at 12:10, everyone just spilled out into the hallways of the hotel in complete elation,” he said. “There were hugs, high fives, cheers. Everyone was screaming.”
As she picked up a package from her doorman, Christina Olsson, CC ’98 and a resident of 600 West 111th St., said she was just relieved that the walkout was avoided.
“It would’ve been a hassle, but hopefully the fact that it didn’t happen means they were able to reach a mutually acceptable agreement,” she said.
The University declined to comment because it was not involved with the negotiations.
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