(Bloomberg) -- Residents of more than 3,000 New York City buildings are bracing for a potential strike of doormen and other apartment workers, and anxieties are high as negotiations enter the final hours.

From Park Avenue co-ops to Tribeca condos and Long Island City rentals -- in all, housing about 550,000 New Yorkers -- residents are preparing for disruptions to virtually every element of how their buildings operate, including trash collection, deliveries, cleaning and non-emergency repairs. And they’ve been asked to volunteer for shifts checking identification of anyone who tries to enter the property and hauling garbage bags to the street. 

The workers’ current contract expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, and while talks have made progress, “there’s still a big void between the two parties,” Kyle Bragg, president of their union, 32BJ SEIU, said Tuesday morning on Spectrum News NY1.

The most recent strike, in 1991, lasted 12 days, causing inconveniences for residents and leaving the workers unpaid. Since then, the threat of a walkout has loomed every few years, only to be resolved at the last minute. This time, some residents and real estate insiders worry that after two years of pandemic life, both sides are more stubborn in their demands.

“My bet right now is it just feels like there’s going to be a strike,” said Steven Goldschmidt, a senior vice president and director of sales at brokerage Coldwell Banker Warburg, as well as a member of his Upper West Side co-op board. “I’m praying it won’t be long.”

Residents don’t want to lose the conveniences that come with living in full-service towers but are sympathetic to the workers’ cause. 

“We rely on our doormen, who are fantastic people,” said George Ackert, an investment banker at Evercore who splits his time between the Upper East Side and Connecticut. “If they go on strike, I’m sure it’ll be a hardship for them as well. We’re all rooting for a deal because it’s better for everybody.”

Anne LaBarbera, who sits on the board of a high-rise in Tudor City, said buildings like hers are a “tiny little city that’s being run by the staff, and they’re very important to the smooth running of our day.”

‘Weird Times’

The pandemic brought new responsibilities and pressures for the more than 30,000 residential building workers in the dispute, who include porters, superintendents and concierges. They became enforcers of visitor restrictions and mask mandates, managed more deliveries, and checked in on vulnerable residents and empty apartments.

“We’re in weird times and everything has changed, so I think there’s more on the table,” Compass broker Michael J. Franco said.

The building workers on average earn $26.45 an hour, or around $55,000 a year, according to the union, and they’ve been receiving pay and benefit increases of about 3.3% a year under the 2018 contract that expires on Wednesday. 

The union, 32BJ SEIU, has said it’s unwilling to give up the benefits it fought to secure in previous negotiations. The Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, the group representing owners and managers, has asked workers to begin contributing to their health insurance costs while also calling for cuts to their vacation days and sick leave. 

Many boards and management companies have contracted with security guards to fill in on door duty in the event of a strike, but other building functions will fall to resident volunteers or go undone. 

In some buildings, according to memos seen by Bloomberg News, residents have been asked to volunteer not only to check visitor IDs but to perform work usually done by members of other unions who will refuse to cross picket lines. Postal workers will drop off mail but not sort it, and sanitation workers will collect trash that’s been placed in the street. Common spaces, such as fitness centers, playrooms and roof decks, will be closed.

‘An Eye-Opener’

Raymond Thorpe, head concierge at 212 E. 57th St., said he would like to see a strike because it would serve as a reminder of what building workers like him do every day. After 16 years on the job, he’s still living paycheck to paycheck.

“It may be an eye-opener for them to say, well, you know what, we should be giving these guys a little more,” Thorpe said.

As the possibility of a strike has drawn closer, more residents seem informed about the fight than ever before. “They’re more in tune with what’s going on,” Thorpe said. “And they’re scared. They’re like, ‘I’m not doing all of this.’”

But not every building has provided its residents with detailed plans.

“Any time I ask someone who works in the building, they seem to be in the dark,” said Alex Dvorak, a screenwriter who lives on the same block, at 220 E. 57th St. “And I overhear when other people ask, so no one seems to know.”

Dvorak said she supports the workers and hopes they get what they need from the negotiations: If there’s a strike, “I’m sure we’ll learn just how much they really do.” 

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