About 200 apartment building workers gathered outside the Courtyard by Marriott in Rye on Monday, Sept. 28, ready to walk off the job. By 6:30 p.m., they didn't have to, News 12 reported.

Negotiators for 32BJ Service Employees International Union (32BJ SEIU) and the Building and Realty Institute of Westchester and the Mid-Hudson Region (BRI) reached a tentative four-year contract that evening.

The deal averts a strike that would have hit 500 residential buildings across the Hudson Valley, the Times Union reported.

The contract covers 1,300 doorpersons, porters, superintendents, resident managers and handymen. The union said a walkout would have left hundreds of thousands of residents without maintenance, package intake, trash removal and building security.

The tentative agreement includes $4-an-hour wage increases over four years, a 15.7% raise, according to the Times Union. It also maintains fully employer-funded healthcare, pension benefits and overtime protections. Union spokesperson Hannah Bottum said workers won all of their demands and beat back BRI proposals to change benefits eligibility and overtime rules.

Workers had authorized a strike on Sept. 16 after negotiations that began in August stalled over health insurance eligibility, overtime protections and proposed reductions in job protections. The current contract expires Sept. 30.

Israel Melendez, 32BJ SEIU vice president and Hudson Valley director, said Monday evening: "We mobilized, 1,300 strong and ready to strike, in order to secure strong wage increases and pension improvements while protecting our healthcare and benefits."

David Amster, chair of the BRI's negotiating committee and president of Prime Locations Inc., said co-op shareholders on fixed incomes face insurance increases and rising utility costs. He said the contract "set both the buildings and the workers up for success."

The agreement also changes the grievance and termination process. The new terms reduce the timeframe for due process and impose stiffer financial penalties for employees staying in rent-free apartments after due process is exhausted, according to BRI officials.

A strike would have been the first in about 30 years for the unit, which was formed in 1934, union officials said.

Mary Rosario, a 32BJ SEIU employee, helped rally strike captains outside the hotel while negotiators met with BRI officials inside.

Union members will vote to ratify the contract on Oct. 8, according to Bottum. If approved, the agreement runs through Sept. 30, 2030.