Negotiations are set to resume between office building owners and service workers, in an attempt to avoid a strike.

Talks between Local 32BJ and the Realty Advisory Board will resume Thursday in Midtown and will continue into the weekend if necessary. The current contract expires on New Year's Eve.

Local 32BJ represents nearly 26,000 janitors, doormen, and elevator operators in about 1,000 buildings and is asking building owners for a four-year deal. They say a wage increase is warranted.

"We feel that the market right now can sustain those wage increases, while at the same time our members are experiencing an increasingly more costly city," said Local 32BJ Secretary Treasurer Hector Figueroa. "We want our members to be able to live in the city that they work, and New York City, by every account, rents have gone up, transportation is going up. They're finding the dollar they get on wages is really not enough for them to keep their families here."

Union members, who on average take home about $45,000 a year in salary, say they have a hard time making ends meet.

"We have to pay expensive things over here, rent, food, transportation," said worker Martin Pinzon. "Everything is expensive in the city. We love this city. We love our jobs, but it's expensive to live here in New York."

The Realty Advisory Board, which represents building owners, says it's optimistic a deal can be reached.

"The union's contention that the real estate market has done well in the past few years is true, but so have the union's members," said RAB in a statement. "The union is demanding a 'fair and reasonable' wage. So are we. Our negotiations over the next few days will determine what, exactly, that means."

The Realty Advisory Board has been preparing for a worst-case scenario, handing out a detailed manual with advice to commercial tenants on how to handle a strike, including hiring security and cleaning personnel in advance.

In the event there is a strike, the union is urging tenants and residents to use caution when dealing with potential non-union workers that could be hired.

"If the industry chooses to hire people from the street that you don't know who they are, make sure you're valuables are there safely locked in your offices, and that you ask management who is really cleaning my office and that you ask management to settle this contract," said Figueroa.

The last strike for commercial buildings was in 1996. It lasted for about a month.