I am all for workers rights and I really hope they get a fair deal, but the union's website lists the things they are concerned with.

The first thing they mention is that the Realty Advisory Board wants them to pay 10% of their health insurance premiums. I'm sorry, but in this day and age I don't think that is unreasonable. I would bet that the cost of those premiums has risen far more than the 10% the workers are being asked to pay. So, they still win.

The next issue is that paid sick days would be cut from 10 to 5. That's 5 more days than a lot of people get.

The Realty Advisory Board has info that an experienced doorman costs more than $68,500/year in salary and benefits. That is for a job that requires no education, etc. (I am not saying the workers are stupid, merely that a degree and the cost of obtaining it are not requisites for the job). It is not an easy job and you can always tell who likes it and who doesn't, but it is still unskilled labor.

I understand that any cuts are taking away what the workers previously had, but the world is different than it was a few years ago. To be asking for the same contract you had but also increase wages just seems like a hard line to take when buildings are paying higher taxes and rents/property values have decreased (or leveled off).

But, as I said to my doorman last night when we were discussing this, if I have to open the door myself (I hate when they run across the lobby to open the door... I am not that special) and sign for my own delivers for a while for him to get a raise, I have no problem at all with it. I just hope the union doesn't screw its own people over by refusing to compromise at all.

Good story: one time a resident in my co-worker's building arrived home from their vacation early, only to find one of their doormen taking a nap in their apartment. The doorman got suspended, but they couldn't fire him because of the union, and he was back on the job a few weeks later.

Also, apparently the union wage for doormen is approx $25/hour.

You make it seem like that's an unreasonable wage. That's 52K a year before taxes, you can't live in Manhattan on that kind of wage, and more often now barely in the city. I astounds me that people want to live in luxury in one of the most expensive cities in the world and the most expensive in our country, but don't want to play their workers a livable wage. If you don't want to spend all that much on doormen, then don't live in a doorman building. Its really that simple.

"Our City’s economic downturn is no excuse to deprive hard-working people and their families of a fair wage or essential benefits."

Fortunately, doormen aren't hard-working people. In fact, what they do isn't actually work. In fact, the ones I once worked with don't actually qualify as people. So the way I see it, there is no problem.

Heh, I said "worked with," which is obviously wrong...because doormen don't work. See, it's all a state of mind. A very, very wrong state of mind.

if I recall from the news last night, the sticking point was over any contribution to their healtcare costs.

how about do what the city does? (when I was working for them, so they may have changed) have different tiers. you most basic HMO will be free, if you want better coverage that will require you to chip in.

or, get an independent audit of their healthcare fund and see what costs can be trimmed. They have excellent Union benefits but when even City workers have to pay for some healthcare costs, it's time they accept that.

(co-pays etc, anything)

I think that the staff at the NYC buildings need to pay some of the health care expenses, just like most New Yorkers employed in the private sector (I pay 10% of my health care expenses, and I have rather good insurance plan). They cannot continue receiving this sweet deal where the residents keep picking up the tab. The reality is that most doormen and other workers at the building get a great deal - they would never get this kind of salary and benefits on the open market, especially in this economy, and especially considering the tax-free bonus they get every Christmas season. And the union contracts restrict buildings from making any reasonable cuts. In my buildings, we have 2 people manning the door even at night, when very few people enter or exit the building simply because of the union rules.

does the "staff" make enough to live in your building? or anywhere on the island of manhattan for that matter?

i behooves the wealthy to take care of the people who take care of them.

"does the "staff" make enough to live in your building? or anywhere on the island of manhattan for that matter?"

I barely make enough to live in my building nowadays. Should everyone working in Manhattan make enough to live in Manhattan? Should we raise the salaries of all employees in the city to make sure they can afford to live in Manhattan? Should all the window cleaners, accountants, store clerks, bank clerks make enough to live in Manhattan? It's a silly proposition. The correct question to ask is: what is the salary on the open job market in the private sector that would attract the same kind of workers? I can bet it's way lower, considering all the perks, looking at how difficult it is to find a job as a doorman in Manhattan. You cannot easily get this kind of jobs - it's all through connections and friendships. In our building, several of the building employees are relatives (we even have father and son).

right, you're paying for a premium location and a luxury service. this is a reality that most people cannot enjoy because it is beyond their means.

in a free market you may exercise your right to move if you don't like the paying the rent and maintenance. until then you'll just have cough up the extra $1,200/yr and complain about it on comment boards. woe!

"right, you're paying for a premium location and a luxury service. this is a reality that most people cannot enjoy because it is beyond their means."

Again, the building staff employees should contribute to their health care coverage like the rest of us. It is only fair. And if they don't feel they get enough money, they can find another job. I am sure these positions will be filled the same day.

Ms. Quinn, what are you smoking? "Our City’s economic downturn is no excuse to deprive hard-working people and their families of a fair wage or essential benefits."

Union members already get a fair wage, and pretty good benefits. If wages go up during a downturn then buildings will adjust and reduce staff. My building doesn't have the extra cash, tenants aren't going to vote for a rent increase so we'll just cut staff.

I know the city council thinks they have a money tree called our wallets, but when unemployment is this high, maybe you should help the union come to their senses, there is a recession going on! If you are supporting giving the union a big settlement, you are really calling for maintenance increases and higher unemployment- buildings are just as cash-strapped as everyone else and the union has a pretty good contract right now.

Oh No! Rich people may have to open doors themselves!

Quick! Give in to their demands!

you'd be surprised what someone wants to get paid to open a door.

I'm surprised that people cannot open the door for themselves and want others to do it for them! That's what surprises me.

Face it. 99% of NYers open their own door and take out their own garbage. If you want the luxury of having a peon do it for you, you pay that peon what he asks, or the peon won't do it for you.

Why is that so difficult to understand? Any free marketeer should easily comprehend that.

"I'm surprised that people cannot open the door for themselves and want others to do it for them! That's what surprises me. Face it. 99% of NYers open their own door and take out their own garbage. If you want the luxury of having a peon do it for you, you pay that peon what he asks, or the peon won't do it for you."

Obviously, you don't know what you're talking about. We are talking not just about the actual doormen that "open the door", but all of the building staff including handymen, cleaners, concierge, etc. They all get the same benefits - and that costs a lot of money, and it's been costing more and more every year. Personally, I only need doormen for safety and to collect the packages/newspapers when I am not home. I can open my own door. And in the many buildings in the summer, the door is always open and no one is actually opening the door for the residents. Again, we are not talking about just 1 doorman and his/her benefits. Our building has 14 employees that get 100% health care benefits.

Believe me, I know very well what I am talking about. For brevity, I just mention doormen.

It appears that you want to live in a desirable building, but don't want to pay the workers what they desire.

My advice: fire them all, get a self-closing door, make your own repairs or hire someone to do them, take out your own garbage like, hoi polloi do. If you want luxury like hoi aristoi, you pay for it, like everything else. Simple.

I didn't ask if you agent's fee was rising, I asked who gets paid more.

I know what managing agents can earn and I know what porters earn. Managing agents earn more. Some earn millions.

I am not rich, and we have way too many people working in our building. And we cannot cut the number of people because of the union rules and restrictions. The union employees should pitch in and pay some of the health care costs, just like all of us. The era of sweet deals and free lunches is over.

"high-rise residents shouldn't be shaking in their Manolo Blahniks just yet. "

Love that line.

It's good to see that workers in NYC still have clout - and the will to use it against the real estate industry.