The issue this year, from the standpoint of the buildings, is that it's tough to give pay raises at a time when maintenance charges are already threatened by dizzying fuel costs.
The staff, for their part, don't make much, though their bennies are good; the last contract in 2003 gave supers a $21 per week increase and doormen a $19 per week increase, so a super would be making around $60K (plus pension bennies and subsidized housing) and a dooman in the high $30Ks (plus two weeks of sick pay, two weeks of holiday pay, three and a half weeks of vacation pay, and pension).
From the standpoint of apartment owners, scab doormen will probably be brought into the big buildings, but you can expect:
* Renovation work will be halted;
* Garbage collection will be halted and you'll take your trash to a central point;
* Your Zone diet meals will be left in the lobby.
From the standpoint of buyers and prospective buyers,
* Move-in and move-outs will be halted;
* You won't be able to receive large deliveries;
* Sales agents will probably have to run you up to apartments individually and open houses will be somewhat chaotic.