Employees at FiDi Luxury Condo Rally For New Contract

The 242-unit luxury tower at 130 William Street is known for its distinctive arched windows, concrete facade and booming sales.

But workers in the Lightstone Group’s Lower Manhattan building argue it’s not yet known for providing fair wages or proper benefits.

The 12 building employees, who won a union election in 2023, rallied in front of the building yesterday in support of their demands at the bargaining table.

Kevin Stavris, 32BJ SEIU executive vice president, said the 130 William workers are looking for a contract that provides the “same standards as the rest of our members in the city,” which include industry-standard wages, high-quality health insurance and retirement benefits.

Lightstone Group did not immediately return a request for comment.

The property is over 90 percent sold, with units trading for over $2,000 per square foot, making it one of the Financial District’s few bright spots in an otherwise sluggish luxury market in the area.

The building launched sales in 2018 and was declared effective at the end of 2019. As of the end of last year, the five-person condo board was made up of three sponsor members and two resident members.

The city-wide union has added 500 to 600 residential members each year to its ranks, according to Stavris. It represents over 35,000 members across more than 3,000 buildings across the city.

The union, which won a new contract in 2022 with the Realty Advisory Board, represents workers across residential duties, from affordable housing maintenance employees to porters and doormen at Billionaires’ Row supertalls.

In 2022, condo boards and property management companies prepared for the worst as negotiations plodded along. The new contract guaranteed workers 12.6 percent wage increases over its four years, along with 100 percent employer-paid healthcare and paid sick and vacation leave.

The contract is set to expire in 2026.

Last year, workers at the Jardim condo on 527 West 27th Street in West Chelsea went on a 24-hour labor strike over the condo board allegedly cancelling their health insurance without notice. Two weeks later, employees at 56 Pine Street walked off the job after layoffs, according to a release from the union.

Stavris said employees at 130 William have spent the past two years at the bargaining table, but that he doesn’t have a timeline for when a contract will be struck.

“We’ll continue to do what we need to do to get an agreement,” he said.