SATURDAY PM UPDATE: Commercial building owners and SEIU Local 32BJ reached agreement this afternoon. The contract will bring base pay for office cleaners to about $47,000 per year by the end of the 4-year term. Together with some overtime and some second-job work, a single parent family of three could manage on such earnings. Read SEIU 32BJ's contract summary here

You can read it in the morning papers, hear it on the radio, building service workers, members of SEIU Local 32BJ are threatening strikes as their contracts expire on New Year’s Day. The union, representing 26,000 NYC commercial building employees, and the NYC employers' association, the Realty Advisory Board, moved to the Sheraton (53rd & 7th Ave,) for the traditional down-to-the-wire talk fest. The commercial real estate market has been booming and the union wants more of the pie. In time-honored tradition of union struggles they held a rally Thursday and, between appointments, I stopped by.

The rally was huge and high spirited. I stopped counting at a 1,000 purple-hatted protesters. Updated at end, post jump. I talked to a bunch. Many were recent immigrants from China, Korea, Poland, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. All were solidly union. One activist, anonymous, explained the union strategy was to divide and conquer. The union is facing strike deadlines all over the North East but, she said, she expected settlements in many cities so that – if NYC workers (26,000, the largest) had to go out – the union was prepared and would have resources for a long tough strike. Indeed, current reports bear her out: Building owners settled with Local 32BJ in New Jersey , Connecticut and DC-Baltimore-Md. .

NYC Council President Christine Quinn was the only local elected I saw there. (This seems a sign as to which way 32 BJ leadership is leaning in the 2009 Mayoral race.) She spoke, stayed for the whole rally and kissed every purple union hat in reach. Then (and this was the best part), the workers were told to go home – but completely fired up – they didn’t. They marched though midtown down 6th Ave. Traffic stopped, tourist stared, cops smiled, building security guys cheered as a huge impromptu group with signs, banners whistles and drums shouted "32! BJ!" I peeled off at 42nd Street but the marchers kept going. If you like that sort of thing (and I do) it was quite a sight.

Friday PM Update. A union press briefing reported no progress and described the issue between the sides as money pure and simple: (quote below via NY1),

Landlords and building owners are offering little more than a cost-of-living raise, saying the workers are already the highest paid in the country and that any discussions must take into account forecasts of an economic slowdown.

“It’s incredible to me that people make millions of dollars every year on these buildings, will talk about how much a porter, who makes less than $40,000 a year, that he’s high paid,” said Kevin Doyle of Local 32BJ. “Our members can’t afford to live in New York City at the wages that they make. They need a significant wage increase.”

Neither side will reveal specifics, but workers now make an average of $40,500 plus benefits, which the real estate board says brings the yearly total to about $66,000.

Newsday's report of the same press briefing includes this:
"The union says the workers' wages don't reflect the booming value of the buildings where its 26,000 members work, mostly in Manhattan."

The union has taken out online ads in real estate trade journal to reach out to commercial owners directly. The arguement: because rents and building values have soared, the owners can afford to raise wages now.