New York City nearly started the New Year with 26,000 workers on the picket lines around the city. A tentative four-year contract reached with more than 1000 city office buildings by the Service Employees International Union Local 32bj averted a strike that was set to go down at midnight on Tuesday. The SEIU had been seeking a pay increase higher than the inflation rate – that goal was achieved when the building owners agreed to a basic wage that would increase over four years from $19.15 per hour to $22.65.