Realty Advisory Board's labor negotiators are a veteran team.

James F. Berg and Paul Salvatore, the two professional labor negotiators who recently crafted a new contract with the residential division of Local 32B-32J that has been applauded by the industry, are a tested team that represents many years of experience.

Berg, 52, has been executive vice president of the Realty Advisory Board since 1983, and served as house counsel to the RAB for 13 years before that. Salvatore, 38, a partner in the law firm of Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn, did his first RAB labor contract in 1991. The Proskauer firm has represented the RAB for some 40 years; Salvatore first worked under Marvin Dicker, who was preceded by Howard Lichtenstein and Bert Zorn.

Salvatore is a graduate of Cornell Law School, and also earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell, from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Berg is also an attorney. He received his law degree from St. John's University and his B.A. from Fordham University.

In the thick of negotiations, Berg says "Paul and I meld quite well. We don't separate our tasks ahead of time."

But each man has an area of expertise that complements the other's. Salvatore is the final arbiter on matters of law. He is part of Proskauer's Labor and Employment Law Department, where he represents an army of other blue-chip clients on employment and labor issues, including Citibank N.A., Fuji Bank  Ltd., The New York Stock Exchange and The New York Times Co.

Berg, during nearly three decades with the RAB, has encountered virtually every real estate-related labor problem. Just as important is his long history of dealing with Gus Bevona, Local 32B-32J's controversial and sometimes volatile president, for whom Berg nevertheless holds a great deal of respect.

"Gus is a very tough negotiator," Berg says. "But behind his negotiating facade, there is sense of reality. And I know that if he makes a deal, he will stick to it."

Kenneth Patton, who is chairman of the RAB Negotiating Committee, credits Berg and Bevona's mutually respectful relationship with keeping this year's negotiations on track.

"It is enormously helpful to have two guys with their long history," Patton said. "Yes, they are adversaries, but they, also have an understanding of eachother's style and priorities."

While the media spotlight is focused on Berg and Salvatore during the contract talks - especially this year when there appeared to be the real possibility of a strike - their work dealing with the union is a year-round task.

Immediately prior to the talks, Salvatore keeps busy with a team of Proskauer lawyers preparing for any contingency. He is author of the legal section of the acclaimed Strike Preparedness Manual that was given to every member of the RAB several weeks before the negotiators became "holed up" in the Sheraton New York for round-the-clock sessions.

Berg spent two months before this year's talks meeting with hundreds of co-op board members, outlining the issues and helping them prepare if a strike hit.

"The scale of the RAB-Local 32B-32J negotiations is enormous," Salvatore says. "It's bigger than Chrysler's talks with the UAW. The RAB represents thousands of employers, who are not a homogenous group. They range from individual co-ops, to owners of a few buildings, to the giant managers and owners in the industry. The union has more than 30,000 members in the residential sector."

Both Berg and Salvatore emphasize that an important part of their job is not just dealing with the union, but being sensitive to the differing needs of the various segments within the RAB.

"The negotiating committee," Berg points out, "is structured as a representative cross-section that keeps us on our toes."

Once the talks are over, there is barely time to breathe. The RAB handles the commercial as well as the residential contract with Local 32B-32J. The last commercial agreement was preceded by the second largest strike ever in 1996 (only behind the GM-UAW walkout), and paved the way for this year's residential contract. The commercial and residential agreements have staggered expirations, about a year-and-a-half apart.

"As soon as we settle one contract, we start preparing for the next one," Berg says. Moreover, the RAB is a co-administrator of two gigantic union trust funds, one for pensions and the other for health. Berg is a trustee and Salvatore a co-counsel of the funds. And the RAB handles an endless stream of grievances and arbitrations. Four RAB staff attorneys assist Berg in handling these matters.

Salvatore notes that the RAB must deal with other unions as well as Local 32B-32J, including those representing operating engineers, painters, electricians and carpenters.

Between law school and joining the RAB, Berg served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and received a Bronze Star for Meritorious Service in Vietnam. He and his wife, Nancy, have two grown sons.

Salvatore is president of the Alumni Association of Cornell's School of Industrial Labor Relations and a faculty member of the school's extension division. He also serves on the Federal court system's Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, and litigates and arbitrates cases involving discrimination, sexual harassment, defamation and wrongful discharge. He and his wife, Pamela, have two small children.