By Kenny Porpora
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Negotiations between New York City's doormen and building owners are heading down to the wire as 30,000 doormen and building workers are set to strike at midnight Wednesday.
Representatives from both sides were meeting Tuesday inside the New York Sheraton in Midtown.
"It's serious in there," said Matt Nerzig, Director of Communications for the worker's union. "There's a lot of talking going on, which is good. We still have a while before midnight so we'll see how it goes."
Mike Fishman, the head of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, and Howard Rothschild, the president of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, have been in talks since 9 a.m.
“Our negotiations for a new contract have continued throughout the day and we have made progress," Rothschild said in a brief statement to reporters at 3:30 p.m. at the Sheraton. "There are some major issues that need to be resolved.”
At the center of this dispute is the worker's demands for wage increases and health care. The worker's now make around $40,000 annually, though the Realty Advisory Board sees that number rising to $70,000 once benefits are included.
“It’s not looking too positive. We’re far apart on what we’re trying for and they’re using last year’s economic recession to stall us," said James Dempsey, who works as a groundskeeper in Chelsea.
Dempsey, 48, has two teenage daughters to support, including one that is heading to college in the fall, but he'll honor the picket line if a strike is called.
“It’s scary. My wife is going to work extra and we’re going to save as much as possible," Dempsey said. "We really hope it will be resolved, but if it can’t we’ll do what we have to do.”
Nerzig said vacation time and sick leave may be negotiable, but the worker's refuse to waiver on compensation and health coverage. If those demands aren't met, he said, there will be a strike for the first time since 1991.
A strike would affect 3,200 buildings and nearly 1 million New Yorkers.
"The strike would be a hardship on everyone," Nerzig said. "The prospect of a strike has been unsettling for everyone."
