32BJ SEIU and building owners reach tentative agreement
Members of 32BJ SEIU have come to a tentative four-year contract agreement with the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations. The post 32BJ SEIU and building owners reach tentative agreement appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.
Black News 
Members of 32BJ SEIU have come to a tentative four-year contract agreement with the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations (RAB), just days before they had planned a walkout that could have affected thousands of the city’s residential buildings.
“This is one of the largest agreements in New York City and it’s an honor I know for our side to be part of this and to set the standard for so many people who take care of the residents of this city,” said union president President Manny Pastreich. “This contract has meaning for the residents and I know it has meaning to the building owners, the co-ops, the condos and I know it has meaning to the 1.5 million residents in 32BJ buildings.”
The tentative agreement reportedly settles New York’s building-service workers’ concerns about wages that don’t keep pace with the city’s rising living costs, owners’ efforts to control healthcare costs, and a debate over whether new hires should be placed in a lower-cost “two-tier” system. On April 15, thousands of 32BJ members had protested along Park Avenue near East 79th Street, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other officials showing up to give them support. Union leaders stated that the protest and a strike authorization vote were clear signals to show workers’ readiness to strike.
Negotiations at the New York Hilton Midtown led to tradeoffs: workers kept core benefits intact while acknowledging owners’ concerns about rising costs. Both sides came together to announce the tentative deal before the current contract’s expiration at midnight on April 20. If ratified, the agreement would run through April 20, 2030.
“As I’ve often said, our relationship is the gold standard of labor relations in this country,” RAB President Howard Rothschild said at the press conference. “Our collective bargaining over the last 90 years is based on mutual respect and has led to uninterrupted labor peace over the last 35 months. I’m prouder than ever that we’re able to keep that strength.”
The union and RAB say the preliminary four-year deal includes a total wage increase of $4.50 per hour by the end of the agreement, a 15% boost to the guaranteed pension, and ongoing healthcare benefits without requiring workers to pay premiums.
The agreement maintains employer-funded legal and training benefits and introduces a new training pathway to help new hires achieve full wages more quickly. It keeps employer-paid family health insurance in place with no premium sharing and does away with the idea of a “two-tier” structure that would have created a separate, lower standard for future hires, the union said.
Immigration-related provisions include training for employers and “Know Your Rights and Benefits” posters in workplaces, along with continued employer-paid legal benefits. The agreement also includes a 15% improvement to the guaranteed pension. Union leaders said the increase is set to begin in July.
Union leaders stated that the tentative agreement will be applied following a mail-in ratification process. If it gains approval, it will secure pay, benefits, and workplace rules through 2030.
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