32BJ SEIU Averts Strike After Reaching “Tentative” Contract Deal With Realty Advisory Board
The commercial cleaners’ union, which represents 20,000 workers across NYC, said that they struck a last-minute “tentative” deal with their real-estate employers on Dec. 28. The agreement still has to be ratified by rank-and-file workers.
| 03 Jan 2024 | 01:11
32BJ members preparing to authorize a strike for January on Dec. 20. That labor action has now been averted, after a tentative deal was reached with the Realty Advisory Board on Dec. 28. (
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It seems that 32BJ SEIU will not head to the picket line in the new year, after an eleventh-hour tentative deal was reached before their contract was set to expire on Dec. 31.
On Dec. 20, the commercial cleaners union–which represents 20,000 workers across the city–had overwhelmingly given union negotiators the right to call a strike, barring any last-minute developments. Union leaders at the time said that talks with the relevant management group, the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, were at an impasse over everything from wages to healthcare.
Instead, the union noted that a deal with was struck at 12: 50 a.m. on Dec. 28, averting the labor action by a couple of days. Union leaders said that the tentative agreement includes improvements such as: the dropping of a premium sharing clause for members’ healthcare benefits, a $3,000 bonus to be paid on Mar. 22, a 10 percent pension improvement for members, strengthened anti-discrimination protections, and wage increase averaging of $149 a week.
The union noted that the contract would have to be finalized by ratification votes in the “coming weeks.” A strike, however, is now apparently off the table.
”It is fitting that we are closing out a year marked by worker mobilization with a victory for 20,000 working New Yorkers who form the backbone of this city’s economy and commercial real estate market,” said 32BJ President Manny Pastreich.
”The path to this tentative agreement was not easy. 32BJ members mobilized with intention this year and marched, 10,000-strong, up midtown to make crystal clear their priorities. And today we found a common path forward with the RAB that rewards workers appropriately and meets the moment for the New York City commercial real estate industry,” he added.
”We’re proud to come to an agreement that reflects the economic realities that commercial real estate faces by creating the flexibility the industry needs to survive for the long-term,” said RAB President Howard Rothschild. He thanked Manny for “working with us to find solutions.”
Dulce Martinez, a member of the union’s bargaining committee, said that the negotiation process demonstrated that “any changes to this industry would not be made on the backs of us, the essential workers who show up everyday, regardless of global pandemics or hurricanes. We let that be known.”