NEW YORK
Talks to avert a New Year's Day strike by thousands of office building janitors, doormen and elevator operators have resumed.

Members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union and the Realty Advisory Board returned to the bargaining table Thursday, adjourning in the afternoon. Both sides say they are prepared to talk through the weekend, if necessary.

"We have made what we believe to be a substantive offer," RAB president James Berg said. "I want to emphasize that our proposal must be looked at as a package, not just wages alone. It includes pension, health, vacation and other benefits."

Local 32BJ spokeswoman Kate Ferranti said: "We are still significantly far apart on wages. We are looking for an increase that is going to help our members and families get ahead of the expensive cost of living in New York."

The workers, who average $40,500 a year in wages and $55,000 a year when health and pension benefits are included, say the industry has been very profitable in recent years but they haven't benefited from the boom times.

Industry officials say the city already has the highest building worker salaries in the nation.

If the workers walk out, about 2,000 buildings would be affected, including the World Financial Center in lower Manhattan and the MetLife building in midtown.
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