(Bloomberg) -- New York City residents at more than 3,000 buildings, including the city’s most grand high-rises, can stand down on trash duty as building workers struck a labor deal, ending the possibility of a strike. 

More than 30,000 doormen, superintendents and other building employees -- who are being represented by 32BJ SEIU, a powerful union -- negotiated a new contract with the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, a group representing building owners and managers, the organizations announced on Tuesday. The contract is up for renewal every four years, and the latest was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday. 

The board had initially proposed cutting back employees’ vacation days and sick leave. They also wanted staff to cover more of their health-care costs, an expense currently borne by the management firms. As a part of the new contract, union members saw no changes to their vacation days and sick leave, or their health care plans. Annual wage increases will also average 3% over the next four years. 

Read More: NYC Braces for Doorman Strike as Negotiations Enter Final Hours

“We got a deal done that our members have earned and deserved,” 32BJ President Kyle Bragg said in a statement. 

The union had said the board’s original terms were unfair considering how doormen, superintendents and other building workers played a key role in keeping apartment buildings functioning as much of the world shut down in during the pandemic, often endangering their own health in the process. The negotiation also came as the U.S. is goes through a period of labor unrest not seen since the early 1980s. 

The labor union had authorized a strike if a deal was not reached, leading buildings around the city to craft contingency plans for disruptions. In some cases, that meant asking residents to help with mail sorting, trash collection and security. The last New York apartment workers strike was in 1991 and lasted for 12 days.

“The industry is proud to have reached a fair agreement that will continue to create and support middle class jobs for more than 30,000 workers over the next four years,” Realty Advisory Board President Howard Rothschild said in a statement. 

Samuel Karlin, who lives in a doorman building on the Upper East Side on corner of 79th and First Avenue, said he fully supports his building’s workers’ demands as they “are a core part of the building and sort of the experience here.”

“First and foremost I’m happy for the workers that they will have gotten the wages and hopefully the health care that they deserve,” Karlin said. “I think that is of importance far beyond what an inconvenience it might be to have them of strike and have to pick up some of the buildings duty’s ourselves.” 

Read More: NYC Labor Union Says Talks are Progressing as Strike Looms

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