Strike Looms as NYC Residential Building Workers Demand Legal Aid for Immigrants

Source: Documented NY

Union building workers want to preserve their Legal Services Fund, an employer-funded benefit that provides legal assistance to immigrant members — and they're willing to strike for it.

Amir Khafagy Apr 07, 2026

New York’s 34,000 residential building workers are preparing to take their fight for a new contract to the picket line — and their demands include legal assistance for their immigrant members.

On April 15, the residential building workers, represented by their union, 32BJ SEIU, are set to authorize a strike if ongoing contract negotiations hit a dead end with the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations (RAB), which represents the New York City residential real estate industry.

Their current contract is set to expire on April 20. Residential building workers with 32BJ last walked off the job in 1991, with the strike lasting 12 days. If the union authorizes a strike, it would be the largest work action since thousands of city nurses walked off the job in January.

The workers — including doorpeople, porters, supers, handypeople and resident managers at 3,500 condo, co-op and apartment buildings across the five boroughs — are demanding many of the typical items raised during contract negotiations, such as safeguarding their full employer-paid family health care coverage, wage increases tied to cost of living and inflation, paid leave and improved working conditions.


If 34,000 doormen, porters and other building workers go on strike, hundreds of New York City buildings will lose the people who accept packages, fix leaky faucets and hail taxis, among other things. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Read more: https://documentedny.com/2026/04/07/nyc-immigrant-residential-building-workers-strike/