New struck by service employees.

The passage from January 5th to 6th became a long night that paid off for city bargainers and brought cheers from a real estate industry that was ready to play ball and not strike out.

At the GM Building, the basketball players and the club owners of the National Basketball Association agreed to a six plus one year option package with minimum salaries that will range from $287,000 for rookie ball bouncers to those with 10 years of experience getting $1 million a year.

The basketball players maximum salaries are capped from $9 million to $14 million per year for those with 10 or more years of experience, with lots of exceptions.

Those making more than that previously will be able to bring in salaries amounting to 103 percent of their prior pay, which is expected to garner Michael Jordan of the Bulls about $33 million a year.

Other players, such as Jayson Williams of the Nets can sign seven year pacts, reportedly for up to $106 million.

But players will be drug tested once per season and marijuana and illegal steroids are to be added to a banned substance list.

Over at the Sheraton New York, the bargainers of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations (RAB) and the Local 32B-32J union spent 28 hours and 10 minutes designing a pact that will provide, including benefits, an increase of about 3 percent in each of the next three years to the real estate industry's 30,000 commercial building workers in 1000 buildings.

"We were able to avoid the turmoil [of a strike] and provide a reasonable increase for our employees, and come to an acceptable solution," said James F. Berg, president of the building owners' RAB. "This was a tough, hard bargaining session."

In a statement, Local 32b-32J union president Gus Bevona, whose multiple local and national union jobs bring him a reported $400,000, predicted the enthusiastic support of his membership, and said he was "tired after the round-the-clock talks, but delighted with the results."

Last year, porters and elevator starters in Class A office building were making $619.48 a week, which added up to annual wages of $32,212.96, plus a benefit package that cost owners $7,712.64. As of January 1, 1999, porters will get an additional $18.58, $19.14 and $19.72 at the beginning of each year, respectively, while superintendents will similarly receive $23.58, $24.14 and $24.72.

The wages for starters, forepersons and handypersons will increase by $20.58 per week, rising to $21.14 per week on January 1, 2000, and to $21.72 a week on January 1, 2001.

The new hires and vacation replacements will be getting 80 percent of the new rates.

While the settlement brings an overall wage increase of 3 percent per year, the total package with the benefits will only cost owners an increase of 2.92 percent in the first year, said Berg. "It's within the norms of [labor] settlements around the country," he said. The second year increase amounts to 3.02 percent, and the third year 2.85 percent.

Benefits, holidays, health, pension and annuity costs for the building workers have also been improved. "We were able to tweak the benefits," Berg explained. Additionally, some of the costs are being paid out of surpluses in the funds administered by the trustees of the plan.

For instance, employees' life insurance coverage will increase from $30,000 to $35,000 while Accidental Death and Dismemberment benefits will be increasing from $60,000 to $70,000.

In one give-back the employees' birthday holiday will instead become a personal leave day. Those with perfect attendance at their jobs, however, will receive a bonus of $125, up from the current $100.

For owners, payments to annuity fund contributions will rise by $1 per week each year, while they will be contributing an additional $2.93 the first year, $3.80 the second year and $2.50 the third year towards pensions, making the total contributions $32.65, $36.45, and $38.95 per week respectively.

From this, the employees will see an increase of $2.50 each week, so that this year the maximum pension benefit will be increased by $50 to $900, plus employees will receive a one month pension bonus. A 5 percent cost of living increase will be given to all in 1999, bringing the maximum pension benefit to $950, and on January 1, 2001, it will rise to a maximum of $1,000.

The plan trustees will implement a drug card prescription plan, make improvements to orthodontic benefits for employees' children, and provide better oral surgery benefits for all.

Those employees buying a home will be allowed $125 towards the cost of a termite inspection, and up to $200 for an engineer's inspection.

The trustees will also award one additional undergraduate and one graduate scholarship bringing the totals to 22 and eight, respectively.

Additionally, Berg said the negotiating team was able to obtain language clarifications that were technical, but bring some flexibility and operational efficiency to the owners.

For instance, the employer may now require, at no cost to the employee, that their paycheck be electronically deposited at the employee's designated bank.

RAB negotiating team member Edward Riguardi of Colliers ABR says the industry "should be extremely grateful to Jim Berg and Paul Salvatore [of Proskauer Rose, counsel to the RAB] for negotiating an amicable agreement. Because the economy was good, it was easier to come to an agreement."