By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — The doormen of New York City brought their contract fight to the heart of Manhattan's wealth and privilege with a Park Avenue rally that brought traffic to a standstill.
The NYPD estimated that 7,000 members of Local 32BJ marched in the rally between E. 79th and E. 84th streets to demand a continuation of family health care coverage, higher wages and retirement benefits for their upcoming contract.
"Everybody's struggling to make ends meet," said William Tricarico, a doorman for 11 years at 130 E. 67th Street in the Upper East Side. "We need to get our fair share. We're not asking for any more than we deserve."
Manhattan members of 32BJ voted in March to authorize a strike in the event that union leaders did not reach an agreement with the Realty Advisory Board, a group representing building owners.
The current contract, which covers 30,000 doormen, concierges, porters, property managers and superintendents, expires April 21 at midnight.
Apartment building workers make an average of $40,000 a year, according to the union.
Contract negotiations apparently hinge on differing views on the economy.
The downturn in the economy has hurt property values and forced building owners to make rental concessions in order to fill vacancies, said Howard Rothschild, RAB board president. In the new contract, owners are looking to control the cost of new and old employees, Rotschild said.
"The two largest drivers of expenses are taxes and labor," he said. "Over taxes we have very little control, labor is the single biggest item where owners have some sort of control."
The new contract's benefits package represents the biggest point of contention, which the RAB says makes the real cost of each employee $70,000 a year.
“I don’t think the real estate industry has a significant problem with the base wage,” Howard Rothschild, the board president, told the New York Times. “It’s that additional $30,000 a year that really costs for the benefits for most employees.”
A little less than a week away from the contract's expiration, Rothschild said the RAB and 32BJ remained far a part on the contract.
The two sides will meet to begin intensive bargaining Thursday morning.
