5 Hudson Valley Contract Win Staff retention was a key issue in the hardfought campaign.
6 Around the Regions Maryland Members support Baltimore Mayor; Ballot Initiatives for Reproductive Rights; Upstate NY Halloween Party; Panamanian Parade; Massachusetts Members Picket Fundraising Gala.
8 Strengthening the Healthcare Industry How members can retrain with the Career Pathways Training Program to further their careers and address skills shortages.
9 No Turning Back Member political action is more important than ever as we prepare to confront an anti-worker agenda at the national level.
10 Year in Review A Look Back at 2024.
14 Work We Do Meet the Whole Care Team at Mount Sinai
18 Member Voices Politically Active Members Talk about the Election and their Vision for the Future.
21 1199ers Making a Difference Member Outreach helped many WorkerFriendly Candidates to Win.
22 Solidarity Forever 1199 Members have Decades of Experience with Organizing, No Matter the Political Climate.
No Time for Retreat
Cover
and
Orlando.
@1199seiu www.1199seiu.org
As we approach the new year, we know we are facing big challenges. The elections last month did not go our way. There is no point sugar-coating it. Cruelty won. Corruption won. Bullying won. Criminality won. Racism won. Misogyny won. This election will have consequences impacting every healthcare worker.
From day one of the next administration, we must mount a massive defense against the assaults on our rights that will come, including our voting rights. There will be new attacks on unions and the living standards of working people— and a transfer of our tax dollars into the hands of the billionaire oligarchs. Trump has promised sustained assaults on undocumented workers, on women (especially reproductive rights), on Black, and Brown communities, on LBGTQ communities. In short, on all of us.
We know that the election results do not mean that Republican attempts to turn back the calendar to the 19th century have become popular. On the contrary, even where votes went to Trump and his downballot candidates, where voters had the opportunity, they also voted to increase the minimum wage, to enact paid sick leave laws, to legalize abortion, to vote women’s equality into law. Public opinion polls show that voters by big majorities would rather give law-abiding undocumented workers a path to citizenship rather than deportation. We are heading into a tumultuous and uncertain time, and our labor movement will no doubt face strong headwinds. What we need now is solidarity. We have faced tough times before, and we know how to organize, fight back, and win. There is an urgent need for our labor movement to grow and become ever more assertive. This is no time for retreat, which only encourages bullies. Authoritarians like Trump love fear, defeatism, surrender. We will never give them what they want. Our union has grown no matter who is in power. We outlived the first Trump administration, and we’ll outlive the next. I grew up under apartheid-like segregation in Virginia, so I know that we can overcome difficult times. Whatever our color,
“ We have faced tough times before, and we know how to organize, fight back, and win. There is an urgent need for our labor movement to grow and become ever more assertive. This is no time for retreat, which only encourages bullies.”
our gender, our religious faith—all of us today emerged from centuries of persecution and oppression. This is what Dr. King referenced in saying, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” But only through struggle. If we remain united, we can emerge even stronger.
Strengthening our union family is our best defense against the assaults from reactionary forces. We will put the full weight of our organization behind defending our members, our families, our communities, and our freedoms from the attacks that will come. We must grab one another’s hands and hold on. And keep holding on. If we have to be in a foxhole, it’s best to be in a foxhole alongside fellow 1199ers.
We will not let the enemies of labor get us down. For better or worse, we live in this world and in this time. This is our reality. We have no choice but to engage in it while we’re here. Being in our Union means we are not alone. And beyond our union, we have many friends, allies and partners, here and now, with more to come as we fight on. Struggle lasts as long as we do.
With the Holidays upon us, this is a time for holding close those we love and who love us. It is a time for rest and, hopefully, experience joy. Milly and I look forward to meeting with you to prepare for the struggles ahead and marching together in the new year. Sending you love and solidarity, GG.
(clockwise from top left): New York RNs Barbara Moody
Maria “Ludi” Ramos; Anne Green, PCA at Phelps Memorial Hospital, Sleepy Hollow, NY; Ida Davis, 1199 Delegate from Prince George’s County, MD; Isaias Ruiz, PCA from Bellingham, MA; Jennifer Parker, Unit Secretary at HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, near
The President’s Column by George Gresham
Editorial: Don’t mourn, organize
We must protect the vulnerable and speak the truth.
As the year draws to a close, many of us will be taking time off work to enjoy the company of those to whom we feel closest over the holiday season. As healthcare workers, many of us will also be looking after residents who need help with daily living or patients who are recovering from illness. As we know, the job of caregivers is needed every single day, no matter what the season.
Come January, 1199ers will also be called upon to use our collective power to defend our Union rights and help protect the most vulnerable in society. Throughout the autumn, all the way
up to November 5, thousands of members from each of the Unions regions knocked on voters’ doors and made phone calls in support of worker-friendly candidates. 1199ers pulled out all the stops. In our states and regions, many of our healthcare worker champions won and we were able to elect the first Black woman Senator from Maryland and the first Korean-American Senator from New Jersey. Pro-worker policies, including raising the minimum wage, requiring paid sick leave and providing for collective bargaining for app drivers prevailed through ballot initiatives
As the attacks on Unions and the living standards of working people begin to unfold over the coming months, 1199 member activists must continue to have tough conversations with their coworkers about why politics matters.
in Alaska, Massachusetts, Missouri and Nebraska. Measures to protect reproductive healthcare won in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and New York.
In a very closely divided country, the Republican party won the Presidency and the Congress by small margins. Through Project 2025 and other manifestos, they have promised to slash Medicaid and Affordable Care Act funding, severely restrict reproductive healthcare and reverse President Biden’s pro-worker labor law changes. They have no mandate to do so, and we have to make that clear through a strong public campaign. We must be ready to mobilize, not just to defend our jobs and communities, but to demand more investment in them.
As the attacks on Unions and the living standards of working people begins to unfold over the coming months, 1199 members must continue to have the tough conversations with their co-workers about why politics matters. Some of the most active members have shared both their emotions and strategies for the future (see Member Voices, p. 18).
The value of almost all healthcare workers’ contracts are closely tied to the amount of governmentdetermined funding available to our institutions. That is why 1199ers campaign year-round to ensure the elected representatives allocate enough money to ensure both affordable healthcare and recruitment and retention of staff (see Year in Review p. 10). As the incoming Republican administration in Washington D.C. begins to claw back necessary funding at the federal level, our contract fights will also be policy fights in Washington and our state capitals. Each year, the Union runs a Member Leadership Development Program to help members hone their political organizing skills (see No Turning Back p. 9). This year, they will be more important than ever.
Hudson Valley members win 15 percent wage increase
Staff retention was a key issue in the hard-fought campaign.
Hundreds of members at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, New York voted overwhelmingly in late November to ratify a new contract, securing 15 percent across-the-board wage increases over the next three years.
The agreement was reached after a lengthy campaign alongside community allies, calling on the hospital to increase wages to improve staffing and retention. The new contract includes increased base pay for key job titles, significantly higher on-call pay, and improved job security.
“When it comes to recruitment and retention–this contract is going to be game-changing for us,” said Sandra Gray, an 1199 Phlebotomy Specimen Processing Tech at the Middletown campus. “It’s really a big deal for us to help our staffing crisis.”
1199ers had called on Garnet Health over months of negotiations and public events with elected and community allies, to address below-market wages and invest in frontline workers and patient care
across the hospital network.
“If Garnet Catskills workers are going to go out and picket, I’ll go up there and picket with them,” said Dawn Cholewka, an 1199 Surgical Tech at the Middletown campus. “At the end of the day, we’re all 1199. And unity is what gets the job done.”
Workers at Garnet had been leaving in droves as wages fell below regional averages and failed to keep up with the cost of living. Members were unable to pay bills or stay in their community. Under the stress of short-staffing, workers in every department felt forced to leave the jobs they love—making the situation even worse.
Members were also worried about community members having to wait longer for treatment.
In 2023, emergency room wait times at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown increased 16 percent, by an average of 254 minutes or 4.5 hours, and more than 1.5 hours longer than the national average.
Garnet members picket in Middletown, NY on November 7.
“When it comes to recruitment and retention– this contract is going to be game-changing for us. It’s really a big deal for us to help our staffing crisis.”
Both New York State Assembly Member Aileen Gunther and Assembly Member-Elect Paula Kay joined 1199ers on the picket line during informational actions held in Middletown and Harris on November 7, while U.S. Congress Member Pat Ryan issued a statement of support. Bargaining at Garnet Health Medical Center Catskills, where 1199SEIU members continue to call on Garnet Health for better wages and working conditions to stop the drain of healthcare workers from Sullivan County’s only hospital, is ongoing.
Annabelle Heckler
Around the Regions
Maryland members support Baltimore Mayor
1199ers attended the inauguration of joined Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott after working hard to help him win a second term. Earlier this year, Mayor Scott announced the allocation of $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to direct care workers in Baltimore City. This money was distributed to 1199 and non-union care workers alike.
Upstate NY Halloween Candy Giveaway
Members in Hudson, NY, worked together with the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, an immigrant-led community services organization, to host a Halloween party for the children and families of the Hudson Housing Authority, which manages lowincome housing in the city. The candy giveaway event was held at the Bliss Towers Community Room in Hudson.
MD.
Ballot initiatives for reproductive rights
Massachusetts members picket fundraising gala
Panamanian Parade
Title I of the LMRDA contains the Bill of Rights for members of labor organizations. The Bill of Rights guarantees union members equal rights to nominate candidates for union office, to vote in union elections or referendums, and to attend union meetings and participate in the deliberations and voting upon the business of such meetings.
Under the Bill of Rights union members are also guaranteed freedom of speech and assembly, and the right to meet and assemble freely with other members, to express views, arguments or opinions, and to express at union meetings their views on candidates for
union elections or upon any business properly before the meeting—subject to each organization’s established and reasonable rules regarding the conduct of the meetings.
Additionally, the Bill of Rights guarantees members a voice in setting the union’s rates of dues, fees, and assessments.
Members are also assured other basic rights including protection of the right to sue, safeguards against improper disciplinary action from the union, the right to view copies of collective bargaining agreements, and the right to be informed of the LMRDA.
Members campaigned for reproductive rights related ballot measures in three of the 1199 regions. In Maryland, voters were persuaded to enshrine the right to abortion and other reproductive freedoms into the state’s constitution. A similar measure was passed in New York as part of the state’s Equal Rights Amendment. In Florida, the 60 per cent voting threshold was not cleared, to overturn the state’s current six-week ban but member campaigners came very close, convincing 57 percent of Floridians to vote "Yes on 4" to amend the state's constitution.
1199ers came together on a sunny Saturday morning in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for the Panamanian Day Parade on October 12, celebrating the nation's independence on the last weekend of Hispanic Heritage Month. 1199SEIU President George Gresham was also in attendance.
On November 14, new members at the Boston-based Fenway Health clinic braved the cold to urge community members attending the Fenway Health fundraising gala to support caregivers in their yearlong fight for a fair contract. Workers at the mission-driven clinic which aims to center underserved communities including LGBTQIA+ people and BIPOC individuals have been struggling with burnout, insufficient staffing, and inadequate wages. Members picketed the gala to call on Fenway Health to lead with its values and improve working conditions to better retain and recruit staff, in order to protect LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities’ access to equitable and accessible health care.
Workers at the missiondriven clinic have been struggling with burnout, insufficient staffing, and inadequate wages.
BOSTON
Strengthening the Healthcare Industry
How members can retrain with the Career Pathways Training Program to further their careers and address skills shortages.
Recognizing the skills shortages that have opened up across the healthcare sector, particularly since the pandemic, 1199SEIU identified the golden opportunity presented by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s allocation of $646 million towards Workforce Investment Organizations.
This funding is helping to pay for the Career Pathways Training (CPT) program being implemented by the 1199SEIU Training and Employment Fund over the next three years.
The CPT Program enables members to further their education, advance their career and make a meaningful impact in their community—all at no cost to them. The program provides financial assistance, covering the cost of tuition, books, training, and administrative fees. It also provides resources and supportive services, including tutoring, test preparation, and career counseling—and helps to give participants paid release time and job placement assistance. The aim is to help
“This program gives the necessary time and focus needed to [further my career]. And it takes away the financial burden of paying for graduate school.”
– Idongesit Ekong, Psychiatric RN at St. John’s Hospital in Far Rockaway, NY (pictured above)
For more information about the Career Pathways Training (CPT) Program, contact 1199’s Training and Employment Funds at (844) 833-1199 or visit www.1199seiubenefits.org/training
rebuild and strengthen the healthcare industry with a more skilled workforce, while also addressing workforce shortages by supporting recruitment and job placement for healthcare workers.
Current cohort member Idongesit
Ekong, a Psychiatric RN at St. John’s Hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens, is already seeing the benefits of the CPT program while enrolled at Adelphi University where she’s studying to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
“I’m [just finishing] the semester and so far, so good,” she says. “This opportunity is amazing that you can have your tuition and books paid one hundred percent. It’s like free education – why not do this?” I’m continuing what I’m already doing and what I’m familiar with. I went to Adelphi [for my undergrad degree] so it’s been easier moving around campus and feels good to be back.”
The CPT program offers an array of eligible positions within the healthcare industry, including
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Certified Pharmacy Tech (ChPT), Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC), Registered Nurse (AAS, BSN, RN to BSN), Respiratory Therapist (RT), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Physician Assistant (PA), Master of Social Work (MSW) and Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC).
“This is such an exciting opportunity to transform healthcare in the State of New York,” Governor Hochul said when announcing funding for the program. “The challenge is this—we just need more health care workers—full stop.”
Participants in the CPT program must complete their study in three years and commit to three years of service payback with a provider that has a client population that is at least 30 percent Medicaid-reliant or uninsured. This population hits close to home for Ekong.
“I deeply care about the vulnerable population that I serve,” she says. “I’ve worked in psychiatry and with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities my entire nursing career.”
Ekong encourages others to also take advantage of the CPT program, saying: “It takes away the financial burden of paying for graduate school. As an 1199 member, this also gives me benefits and job security—it feels like a win-win!”
Adriana Arbelaez, who is currently working as a part-time Shift Supervisor at a Rite Aid store in Long Island, agrees: “I went to the Union presentation, and it was very informative. My work schedule is unpredictable, so I’m hoping to start with an online program.” Arbelaez lost her full-time Rite Aid position after 25 years with the company, when her previous store closed.
Following the CPT presentation, she identified a Pharmacy Technician course at the College of Staten Island. She hopes she can move forward with this in January because she recognizes: “There are more job opportunities for Pharmacy Technicians both at Rite Aid and in the hospitals.”
No Turning Back
Member political action is more important than ever as we prepare to confront an anti-worker agenda at the national level.
Making a difference in the communities where 1199 members live is still very possible. But it is going to take sustained pressure, underpinned by local collaboration and organization.
Working people working together is the best way to advocate for access to good quality, easily accessible healthcare services, wellrun schools and affordable housing within a reasonable distance from the workplace.
Many of the decisions that affect members’ daily lives are taken by elected officials at the local and state level.
In order to give members a better understanding of how this all works and improve their advocacy skills, the 1199 political action division runs an annual program -- which is open to all members --entitled Tools for Change. It is designed to support collective action aimed at elected officials and develop a greater knowledge of union history, so
Scan here to describe what topics should be covered in the Tools for Change program next year to hone member political action skills.
members can better bring about real change.
In 2024, some of the graduates of the Tools for Change program in each of the 1199 regions went on to participate in the Member Leadership Development Program.
In August, these member leaders met for a one-week intensive workshop that included a visit to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on the day that Vice President Kamala Harris was announcing Tim Walz as her running mate.
Each regional team was tasked with developing their own project following the conference to engage with members on the upcoming election.
Members from Upstate New York set up a voter information table at a service workers celebration event to register voters and educate members about voting yes on Proposition 1, also known as
the Equal Rights Amendment that enshrined the right to abortion in the NYS constitution when it passed on November 5.
1199ers from Downstate NY hosted an event called “Art to Vote”, offering participants important election information while giving them an opportunity to create art to express their views.
New Jersey member leaders offered a Delegate’s training on voter registration and best practices for turning out the vote.
In Massachusetts, members held an in-person debate watch party for members and friends during the Harris-Trump presidential debate. The event also included voting information and registration assistance. Maryland and Washington D.C. members hosted “Refresh your Mind with 1199 – Know Your Candidates Game Show Edition.” Members and friends competed to test their knowledge about the candidates and issues.
Many of the decisions that affect members’ daily lives are taken by elected officials at the local and state level.
Participants in the advanced MLDP visiting the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia, PA.
YEAR IN REVIEW
In February, nearly 1,000 healthcare union members in Rochester, NY signed a groundbreaking new contract after holding a massive informational picket and historic 17-hour strike. The contract with the University of Rochester Medical Center includes wage increases of up to 18 percent over the three-year term. Direct patient care members at Mercy Hospital in Long Island, NY also won 18 percent raises in their second contract.
Members at Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, NY reached a tentative agreement at 5:13 a.m. on May 30, narrowly averting a one-day strike planned for the following day. The agreement brings members there on
par with their 1199SEIU co-workers at other Northwell Health facilities.
Healthcare workers at UHealth Tower, formerly the University of Miami Hospital, in Florida, also agreed on a new contract in May which includes ratification bonuses, annual wage increases, a higher minimum wage, and shift differentials.
Community Care Home Health Services in both Upstate and Long Island, NY ratified their first contract, including pay differentials for the 1,600 new members for working on public holidays, an optional 401k retirement plan, and bereavement leave.
Nursing Home members at Weinberg Campus, located in Getzville, NY near Buffalo—one of the last non-profit facilities in Western
NY—averted a two-day strike on July 30, after reaching an 18-month agreement just hours before they were set to hit the picket line.
In late August, nursing home members voted to ratify a new 1-year labor agreement at two facilities near Buffalo, NY—averting a planned 24-hour strike. The contract which includes wage increases of up to 32 percent covers about 70 Nursing home workers at Safire Rehabilitation of Northtowns in Tonawanda and more than 100 workers at Williamsville Suburban Care Center in Amherst.
More than 1,000 nursing home members who work at Aspire Health Care facilities in Florida also reached an 11-hour agreement wage increases and a ratification bonus after mounting informational pickets at 11 locations and voting to strike.
In September, Forest Haven
Nursing and Rehabilitation Center members in Maryland ratified a contract which includes raises between 16-26 percent for all in the first year. First contracts were also ratified at Cornerstone Montgomery, a substance abuse rehabilitation agency with locations around Maryland, as well as Partners in Abortion Care in College Park. Partner members secured 12 weeks of paid parental leave and Cornerstone's new contract includes a severance agreement, retirement funds matching, and the extension of benefits to part-time employees.
Hundreds of hospital workers at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, NY, ratified a three-year contract in December that includes 15 percent across-the-board wage increase over the next three years and protects healthcare and pension fund benefits. The win follows a lengthy public campaign to address belowmarket wages.
1 Members picket University of Rochester Medical Center in Upstate, NY.
2 Celebrating Pride in Buffalo, NY.
3 Michael Velez, an 1199 Paralegal at the Legal Aid Society (center) and Jose Sotomayor, Senior Lead Call Center PCA at Callen Lorde at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.
On February 23, members came together at the 1199 headquarters to celebrate Black History Month and honor civil rights heroes past and present. Speakers included Clarence B. Jones—the lawyer for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who successfully managed to smuggle out his hand-written “Letter from Birmingham Jail” manuscript from prison.
In March, the women of 1199 came together at Union headquarters in Manhattan to parade with pride in costumes from their counties of origin at two solidarity events in recognition of Women’s History Month
Thousands of Union members travelled to the nation’s capital on
3
June 29, to highlight the needs of more than 135 million low-income people across the country—and to fight for change. The Poor People’s Campaign assembly called by Rev. Dr. William Barber marked the launch of an outreach program to 15 million infrequent voters ahead of the presidential election.
The parade season kicked off in Buffalo on June 2, when 1199 members marched with the Justice Bloc to lift up the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride month. On June 30, New York City 1199ers joined “The March,” which originally began in 1970 on the first anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
Boricua solidarity and pride were on display at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York
City on June 9, which was billed as America’s largest cultural celebration. Members also turned out in force for the Dominican Day Parade held on August 11.
Years of hard work building up the 1199 Mas Camp for the West Indian Day Parade were rewarded on September 2, with first prize in the Adult Band of the Year competition. On September 8, members came together and proudly marched up Fifth Avenue in New York City to celebrate Labor Day. Celebrations moved up to Harlem the following week, as 1199ers marched in the African American Day Parade on September 15. The season wrapped up on October 12, when members joined the Panamanian Parade in Brooklyn.
YEAR IN REVIEW
From January until April, members traveled to the New York State capital on a weekly basis to press Governor Hochul toinvest in Medicaid equity and finally ensure that Medicaid rates cover the cost of care. .
The sustained pressure resulted in both a rejection of proposed cuts and a “down payment” investment in Medicaid rates.
While the Medicaid equity campaign was being pursued, 1199ers were also supporting Tom Suozzi in his special election to replace the disgraced Republican congressman George Santos on February 13th. 1199ers braved snow and ice on Long Island to help ensure Suozzi’s victory, which was repeated in the general election in November.
In Massachusetts on March 20, hundreds of 1199ers took to the streets outside Governor Maura Healey’s office to protest her state budget proposal that threatened to cut 6,000 consumers out of the Personal Care Assistant program, which provides home care services across the state. After sustained pressure and joint advocacy with the disability community, the funding was restored in the final state budget for 2025.
When Steward Health Care declared bankruptcy in May, Massachusetts members again swung into action to press Governor Healey to help preserve care at six hospitals as they transitioned to new owners and ensure that our contract was maintained at those facilities.
For the two hospitals that were shuttered, 1199ers helped shape the closure procedures which included the ability for workers to transfer to other hospitals in the former Steward system nearly 150 workers took new positions and full payment of PTO for laid off workers.
Also in May, 1199 members from all regions joined members of other unions throughout the U.S. and Canada for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Convention that takes place every four years, ahead of the presidential election.
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the delegates chosen to represent the roughly two million members of SEIU who were gathered
in Philadelphia, PA, 1199 members in Western New York were celebrating in June, when Governor Hochul announced the release of $75 million worth of state funding to build a new modern Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk to replace the outdated facility after a long-running Union and community campaign.
On September 26, Governor Healey signed into law critical reforms that will lay the groundwork for addressing the safety and staffing issues in Massachusetts nursing homes.
The Long-Term Care Act’s creation of a new Long-Term Care Workforce and Capital Fund will provide much-needed state support for infrastructure investments and new workforce training programs for nurses, CNAs, home health aides, homemakers and other direct care workers, that include 1199 members.
Members in Maryland successfully campaigned for an amendment to their state constitution enshrining abortion as a right and helped to fight off a corporate-backed ballot measure to shrink the size of Baltimore City Council.
In the run up to the general election on November 5, more than 2,000 members volunteered to knock on doors and make phone calls to explain the issues. In all, members took part in more than 7,000 volunteer shifts over the course of the Weekend Warriors campaign.
While the outcome of the presidential election was a disappointment to many, 1199 members can be very proud of the work they did to bring about a different result. And there were also victories to celebrate, including in Maryland where Angela Alsobrooks became the first Black woman Senator. Andy Kim also won his Senate race in New Jersey and three Republican House seats in New York flipped to the Democrats. Maryland and New York passed abortion rights measures and, and in Florida, while the 60 per cent threshold was not cleared, 57 per cent of Floridians voted against the current six-week ban. There were numerous downballot victories to which members contributed as well.
1 Feeling the energy at the SEIU Convention in Philadelphia, PA.
2 Members picket the former Seward facility, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, MA.
3 Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joined by 1199 members.
4 Newly elected MD Senator Angela Alsobrooks with Phebe Agarin, an 1199er at the Ellicott City Healthcare Center, west of Baltimore.
5 New York members getting out the vote in Philadelphia, PA.
6 Preparing for the general election at the SEIU Convention.
In March, nearly 250 workers at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) joined them in uniting with 1199.
Nearly 300 Boston Medical Center Behavioral Health Center workers also won their Union vote. The RNs joined first with the remaining workers voting in August.
More than 140 laboratory technologists at Northwell Health’s microbiologist facility in New York were also celebrating early in the year after winning their 1199 vote.
On June 27, the Physician Assistants at Mount Sinai Queens voted to join fellow 1199 PAs in New York City hospitals who have organized collectively in recent years.
More than 850 staff at Northwell
Health’s Core Testing Facilities joined the 1199SEIU family on September 25. On the same day, a further 2,500 new members from the White Glove Community Care home care agency also voted to unionize, joining the 140,000 home care workers already represented by the Union.
In a separate victory in Queens, NY, more than 140 RNs at Zucker Hillside Hospital voted to join 1199 and now have the right to negotiate alongside many of their co-workers who are already part of the contract with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes. The campaign to organize medical facilities recently taken over by Optum in the Hudson Valley has been continuing throughout the year. A total of 11 Optum locations are now represented by 1199.
Work We Do: Mount Sinai Care Team
When many people think about hospital staff, they often picture doctors and nurses. But as 1199ers know, quality patient care could never be achieved without the whole care team, which includes Patient Care Assistants (PCAs) and Medical Assistants. The 1199 Magazine recently met a few of these dedicated professionals at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City to gain a better understanding of the important work involved in bedside care and patient preparation.
1. “My day starts at 7.30am and I make sure that everything runs on time,” says Sonia Joseph, an Offsite Medical Office Specialist at Mount Sinai West.
“I take pride in making sure that everyone is seen in a timely fashion,” she says. “I’m proactive. I get things ready before the doctor even asks.
I make sure that the doctor is running on time by figuring out what I can do first.”
Joseph, whose duties are similar to those of a Medical Assistant, has been working at Mt Sinai for nearly 40 years. She became an 1199 member and Delegate following the offsite organizing campaign in 2017.
“Patient interaction is the best part of my job,” Joseph says. “Regular patients
appreciate a friendly face.”
Joseph says she became a Delegate because “people are afraid of management and I don’t mind speaking my mind.”
“I’m not intimidated, and I want to speak up for the little guy,” she says. “Management respects me.”
2. After nearly 20 years on the job, Florence Rosser has gotten to know many of the patients who come in for regular treatment at the Mount Sinai West HIV clinic. People with HIV faced a higher risk of contracting COVID because of their weakened immune systems.
“When they started giving Covid vaccinations, some of our high-risk patients were not computer savvy,” the Medical Office Specialist
says. “One patient came in crying hysterically. offered to take down their information and book their appointment. I booked more than 150 patients and received an award from the hospital for my service.”
Rosser has been a Delegate for the past seven years, and may be the first person a patient speaks to after receiving a positive test result. During her 18 years at the HIV clinic she has had a lot of practice helping patients work through their sadness.
“I let them know that being HIV+ is no longer a death sentence,” she says. “Medication will help you stay healthy. PrEP is like birth control [to prevent HIV transmission] and PEP is given after an exposure.” [People can be at risk of contracting
HIV after sexual assault].
Seven years ago, after she became a Delegate, Rosser also helped negotiate a significant increase for a member who was receiving a salary of $49,000 for almost a year when the Union rate for her job was $93,000. When Rosser highlighted this pay discrepancy to management, they agreed to pay the higher rate as well as back pay.
3. “Mount Sinai is a teaching hospital and every day I learn something new,” says Marcia Graham-Hauser. “I like to help people.”
Graham-Hauser has been at Mount Sinai West for 15 years and currently works at the intensive care step-down unit. She became a Delegate four years ago, because she
saw the need to inform others about the contract and the benefits for Union members.
“We are short-staffed, and everyone is so busy,” she says. “But its important to exercise patience even when we are short. I had a patient who was very upset about having been diagnosed with head and neck cancer. I was able to calm her down and taught her deep breathing. The next day she was much less anxious. Never let anxiety get the better of you. Stress is a silent killer.”
Graham-Hauser says she simply has a “passion for taking care of people.”
“I always put myself in the shoes of the patient and think about how I would like to be treated, how I would feel in that bed,” she says.
“I always put myself in the shoes of the patient and think about how I would like to be treated, how I would feel in that bed.”
– Marcia Graham-Hauser
4. Valencia Tobias is an 1199 PCA and Delegate who has worked at Mount Sinai main campus for the past decade. She used to work on the cardiac unit until her own husband recently passed away from cardiac issues.
“After that it was hard for me to come to work and be chummy,” Tobias says. “I didn’t want to be that person. My patients are the reason that I come to work. It brings me pleasure when I can make geriatric patients feel more comfortable and that they are not alone.”
Working on a medical/ surgical ward for the past two years, even management has recognized Tobias’ special ability to connect with patients. She is also highly regarded as a “skin champion” and someone who understands the importance of proper wound care, which includes making sure patients are turned regularly.
According to Tobias, she wanted to become a Delegate because she is someone who is “willing to stand up for myself and my co-workers.”
“I figured I could be a strong voice for people who didn’t feel comfortable fight-
ing,” she says. With the help of the 1199SEIU Training and Education Fund, Tobias is now studying to be an RN at Lehman College in the Bronx where she is due to graduate in 2027.
5. Working on a step-down unit at Mount Sinai main campus, where patients are being weaned off their ventilators, PCA Jennifer James often finds the place to be shortstaffed. As a former teacher, she says she understands the importance of patience. “It is important to listen, and to let people vent,” she says. James reminds her patients that she is not there to take away their independence—but to be a guide and act as their safety net. “It is hard for bones to mend once they are broken,” she says. So, it is important to avoid accidents in the first place.
Originally from Trinidad, James says she always like to speak up because “The boss is hoping that we don’t know what is in our contract. But know my contract, so they can’t win with me!”
6. Ali Karim started in palliative care last January, after working as a PCA at Mt Sinai main campus for the past decade.
A published poet, Karim recently wrote a poem for a 94-year-old patient on his ward. She was so pleased and told him that no one had ever done that for her before. After sharing another poem with a nurse on the palliative care unit, “she walked up to me and started to cry.”
An 1199 Delegate for the past six years, Karim was very disappointed with the outcome of this year’s presidential election.“There are going be some battles,” he predicts. “I know he is going to come for NYC. But we’re ready. We’re New York tough!”
Staffing levels were already challenging before the anticipated federal budget cuts, Karim points out and worries that they could get worse.
But he does find the work he does very rewarding, saying:“When I first joined the
palliative care ward, initially I was skeptical about seeing people who are dying. Now, I wouldn’t trade it.”
Some patients do go home, however, and Karim says it is important to focus on how they feel during their hospital stay. A big part of his job is helping family members come to terms with the situation. Some don’t want to accept it. “We’re here to make sure patients get the best care at the end of their lives,” he says.
7. Stephanie Alleyne has also learned a great deal about building relationships in her 36 years working as a Mental Health Technician at Mt Sinai main campus.
“I know when to say something and when to hold back,” she says.
“Sometimes, the patients will tell us more than they will tell the doctor,” Alleyne says. “They will tell us deep stuff and say we can’t tell the doctor. But we have to, so that they will get better.”
As a Delegate with more than three decades on the job, management has come to rely on her–sometimes too much. They will often ask Alleyne, for instance, to look after a difficult patient. “Stephanie, you can deal with it,” they say.
During the Presidential election, Alleyne gave up most of her Saturday’s to be a bus captain with Weekend Warriors. “The election outcome was depressing for me,” she says. “I couldn’t believe it. Why would people go with the Republicans when we know they don’t believe in unions.”
Patients often come onto the ward after a period of sleeping rough, so the first thing Alleyne does is to make sure that they have a shower and change of clothes “to feel like a person again.” And because of the hospital’s location near the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Alleyne has sometimes looked after celebrities who were brought in for emergency psychiatric treatment.
“Sometimes, the patients will tell us more than they will tell the doctor. They will tell us deep stuff and say we can’t tell the doctor. But we have to, so that they will get better.”
– Stephanie Alleyne
Member Voices
In the days immediately following the presidential election, 1199 Magazine invited some of the most politically active Union Delegates to a virtual summit to share their feelings about the results and hear about their vision for future political action. Here is what they said, lightly edited for clarity:
In our nation’s politics and in our institutions, there is no more powerful movement of healthcare workers than 1199SEIU. Our accomplishments don’t begin and end with one Presidential election—what we achieve is built by decades of perseverance of struggle. Through good times and through challenging ones, we adapt our strategy to meet the moment we are in and our new political context.
In a Union as diverse as ours, there is a range of emotions as we reflect on the past year and our road ahead. In the days immediately following the presidential election, some of the most politically-active Union Delegates came together for a virtual summit to share their feelings about the results and their vision for future political action.
Let’s continue to have these important conversations amongst each other. It’s through mutual support and our collective wisdom that we will chart our path forward and continue winning power for working people.
DEBRA
OR Tech at Franklin Hospital Medical Center, Long Island, NY with House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries
The outcome hurts my heart, especially for the Haitian community, because the people that are here in this country are running away from the gang violence in Haiti. Woman that are being sexually abused and they cannot go back. There’s a law in Haiti where women are not allowed to have an abortion [even in cases of rape]. You have all these kids in the country that are unwanted because they were not brought into the world in the right way.
Here in New York, I have put a group together of about 75 Haitian people who are not citizens, but who would like to be. So far, I have helped 20 people apply for U.S. citizenship.
We're going to keep on fighting, because when we fight, we win. We’re going to teach people about their rights and about how to vote.
My family has a background in politics. My grandfather was killed by the former Haitian president, Papa Doc. So, politics runs in my blood. 1199 gives me a chance to express my concern and my passion and its wonderful. But one thing I regret is that we don’t target the younger generation enough. They don’t understand the value of voting. We need to create community spaces where young people feel welcome.
WILLIAMS Dietary Aide at Tamarac Rehabilitation and Health Center near Fort Lauderdale, FL
As 1199, I feel like we did an awesome job. We did our part. And I still feel like when we fight, we do win.
I feel like more people could have got out and voted because I found out that a lot of people did not vote, and a lot of people went to the polls and did not even know that they were not registered. And to be honest, I was very disappointed in some of the people. I was disappointed because we worked hard. But you can't control a person's mind.
I'm praying a lot and I'm staying mindful. I'm keeping my eyes open and my ears open because you don't know what's going to happen next, you know?
So we just have to be ready and continue to fight.
I bought my grandsons along this time when we knocked on doors on our Super Saturdays [in Florida]. He’s 22 years old and he was voting for the very first time in his life. So, that was a plus for me right there to get the kids involved in some kind of way.
Here in Massachusetts, which is a Democratic state, we came across a lot of people who were against Kamala Harris because she was female. We did try to educate people and give them an idea [what life] would look without her.
I’m upset but at the same time I know that 1199ers are fighters. We don't give up, right. From right now all the way into January, we have to educate ourselves about his plan for 2025.
We are going to push push, push and make sure that he understands that he cannot play with people's lives.
We're going to make sure that we let each and every one of our members know that we’re not giving up. We’re going to keep on fighting.
Let's start with our own kids. That's the perfect way to do it, because most of us have children so that we should start with our own kids. My daughter enjoys it every time that we have to go to the State House to scream and march and stuff. She's there with me.
I'm pretty disappointed with the ballot outcome here in Florida. (Amendment 4, which set out to overturn the state's 6-week abortion ban, failed to pass with 57 per cent of the votes, falling just under 3 per cent short of the 60 per cent majority needed in the state.)
That amendment was really important to me. I think was important to a lot of women. It was pretty difficult to get to a 60 per majority. It is so weird because 43 per cent said no and 57 per cent said yes. In any other decision, 57 beats 43. But here in Florida, 43 beat 57.
I just have to remember this is not a rule set in stone. The rule that we have in place was only put in place a few years ago. So my thoughts go to how do we overturn that rule?
It's a crazy rule.
We have to work to educate people about what those bad outcomes can look like [if women are denied access to reproductive health care].
When it comes to having a female president, I think that we are way overdue. We’re here questioning whether a woman really run this country, when we have other countries that have had female presidents without a thought.
I was born in Panama. We've had Panamanian female presidents there, and in other countries too, like Ethiopia. Dominica and Iceland, just to name a few.
I'm not, shall I say, a very seasoned political person, who knows how to counter initiatives and how to protest. But I do want to be part of that because we can't just lay down, sit down, and cry for the next four years and hope and wait for four years, for our chance again.
“We can't just lay down, sit down, and cry for the next four years and hope and wait for four years, for our chance again.”
– Virginia Kondas
CLAIRE LEON
VIRGINIA KONDAS Advanced Practice RN at UHealth Tower hospital in Miami, FL
SAIRA RUIZ PCA from New Bedford, MA
MILLY SILVA Secretary-Treasurer
It was a punch in the stomach when the outcome didn't come out the way we’d hoped. I think a lot of us were hurt. As the father of two daughters, I wanted them to know that one day they could run for president.
Instead [they see] you have a criminal running for president again and at the same time you have innocent people that are in jail still facing time that for something they never did.
But the fight's not over. I think one thing we always have to remember is that we’ve been through tougher times than this, right? We came out of slavery with no shoes on.
We have a couple of accomplishments, too. Angela Alsobrooks won her race for U.S. Senate in Maryland. I did phone banking for her.
When I was door knocking with my son, the cops did run up on us and asked what we were doing. I said: “What do you mean, what am I doing? I'm out here door knocking for your local officials and for the presidential election.”
It was a really educational moment for my son. It let him understand that this is what goes on in life, right? And don't panic.
I think educating each other is the key right now and for the next four years. A lot of people spoke about stimulus checks that #45 signed in his first term, not knowing that it didn’t come from him. He just signed them.
Power to the people, so we can overcome the people with power!
I have a mixed bag of emotions. I think I'm kind of in shock still. I haven't really processed everything, but I’m a very spiritual person and I do believe that there is a bigger plan in place. I first thing I thought of was when COVID hit us and how much of the unknown that we had to deal with. And everybody was so scared.
One of the things that Kamala said in her concession speech that really sat with me was:
“When we fight, We win”. That's our Union motto and I think it was great that she said that, and she reminded people of that.
We need to go full force now. It's not time to lay back and rest and say, OK, it's over.
No, we're just starting now. We have to push even harder, that's all. We're still fighting, and it's not over.
All of us are very clear that we did a good job and worked a lot. We can’t sit down and cry and suffer for what happened now. We have to continue. We have to stand up together and continue to fight.
I have had to start going to a different church because the priest at my former church was telling lies to the congregation.
After mass, he said that he did not want to tell anyone how to vote, but they should be careful because one party was in favor of allowing abortions up until full gestation at nine weeks. I knew this wasn’t true.
How can a faith leader say that? What doctor is going to perform an abortion at nine months? He also said one party wanted to take away parental rights and allow children as young as three to have [gender reassignment] operations. There were too many lies being told before the election.
It may be too late for us to try to educate the people who voted [in November] based on lies, but we can’t let this happen again.
We have to be prepared for the next election. We have to continue standing up for our rights. This man is not going to stop us.
1199ers Making a Difference
Up and down the East Coast, members helped worker-friendly candidates to win.
Members from all Union regions travelled as far afield as Erie, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire in the north all the way down to Miami, Florida, to canvass for worker champions running for national, state and local office.
Maryland members helped to elect Angela Alsobrooks to the U.S. Senate where she will serve alongside Lisa Blunt Rochester from the neighboring state of Delaware, marking the first time that two Black women have served simultaneously in the Senate. In New
I was preparing myself because it was a shock to me when Hillary Clinton lost. But it felt like a punch in the gut even so.
Everybody has amnesia. Not remembering that while he was in power, we had a pandemic. People were dying. I was watching. Young people, black people, white people, all were dying left and right, and we didn’t know the reason why they were dying because it was something new that we were experiencing. And this man goes on national TV and says that it was a fake disease.
But we will not have this guy destroy our mental health or the way we think. We will continue fighting for what is right. That's what we do as 1199 members. We will fight for our rights. We will fight for human rights and for women's rights and all the other rights that we have.
In New York, members helped U.S.
for
district hold onto his seat in a tight race. On Long Island, Democrat Tom Suozzi held onto his seat and Laura Gillan flipped her district to Democrat, with help from 1199ers. Further north in NY, the Weekend Warriors helped Josh Riley and David Mannion turn two more House seats blue in CD 19 and 22.
YVETTE MARTINEZ Mental Health Tech at Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis, NY
ANA MEDINA Home Care worker from the Bronx, NY
ANGEL CRUZ
Angel Cruz, Housekeeper at Oxford Nursing Home in Brooklyn, NY, with his son
Jersey, Andy Kim also benefited from member support to become the first Korean American to serve in the Senate.
Congressman Pat Ryan
the 18th
SANDRA ABEGG Respiratory Therapist at the Northern Manor nursing home in Nanuet, NY
New Jersey Senator-elect, Andy Kim, speaking at 1199 Delegate Assembly.
(bottom) Maryland Senatorelect, Angela Alsobrooks with a member from and SEIU sister local.
FOREVER SOLIDARITY
1199 has always been a fighting force for workers, even during the toughest times.
Local 1199 was founded in 1932 in the throes of the Great Depression, the worst economic crisis in modern history. In the same year, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, was elected to the first of four consecutive terms. He died in 1945, the first year of his fourth term.
From 1932 until the onset of McCarthyism and the Red Scare in the late 1940s – the political persecution of left-wing unionists and activists – the union’s forward march was generally in step with President Roosevelt’s New Deal policies.
It’s political and legislative work was carried out in conjunction with other progressive unions, particularly those in the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO).
The union of pharmacy workers never numbered more than 4,000, but it was generally viewed as a scrappy battler that was able to punch above its weight.
Most of the CIO unions were destroyed or greatly weakened during the McCarthyite Red Scare. But 1199’s unity within the ranks, as well as solidarity with other progressive unions and the community, helped it withstand the attacks.
Key to the union’s ability to survive and actually grow its membership from about 4,000 in 1947 to 6,000 in 1957, was its relationship with the Black community. Leon Davis, 1199’s first president, developed lasting friendships with Black pharmacy workers when he began work in
1927 as a porter and stock clerk in Harlem drugstores.
The Harlem membership is credited with saving the union in 1948 and 1949 when Black workers closed up stores to block certification by a raiding union. A short while later, the same pharmacists hid Davis and the union’s treasurer to prevent the serving of a court subpoena to end a strike.
That solidarity was essential to 1199’s dramatic growth in the 1960s. A similar bond was also developed with the Latino—primarily Puerto Rican—communities. The public face of the union was a well-trained delegate body that saw clearly the connection between rights on the job and rights in the community.
When asked to define the union’s goal at the time, Elliot Godoff, the chief architect of the hospital organizing campaign, declared, “Rights! Rights! Rights!”
The union was not always able to replicate its New York victories.
In 1969, during its foray into the South,1199 helped change the status of African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, but it failed to win full union recognition.
Organizers drew lessons from the campaign, however, and starting in Maryland used the momentum to win organizing campaigns across the nation.
In November 1973, 1199 was the only union in the nation to strike against President Richard Nixon’s
Cost of Living Council. The strike limited the Council’s reduction of the union’s contractual wage increase.
In the 1980s, during Republican President Ronald Reagan’s frontal attack on labor, the “Save Our Union” coalition of rank-andfilers and former staff captured leadership of the union. The movement returned the union to its progressive path that led to unprecedented growth and increased political power.
That growth and power multiplied in 1998 when 1199 merged with the powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU). That affiliation helped the union survive eight years of the George W. Bush
administration, as it did during the single term of George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993.
That the Union was able to prosper under hostile political administrations is attributed to its operative slogan, “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
Another hallmark is democracy.
All members have a voice regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or political affiliation.
Leon Davis is quoted as saying, “How is it that these workers were able to overcome the many obstacles that divided them?
The struggle to overcome these obstacles is the real story of 1199.”
“We can take the knowledge and wisdom we’ve gained from this to other campaigns.”
The union grew to include the majority of the world’s nationalities. This includes members who hail from nations with large activist unions. These members bring important experiences that deepen diversity and enrich 1199. And that diversity has become key to the union’s political and legislative work.
As 1199 grew to the largest health care union in the nation, it also developed into one of the most politically powerful. It did so through the mass mobilization of its membership and tens of thousands of contributors to its Martin Luther King, Jr. Political Action Fund.
Twenty years ago, some 5,000 members of 1199 worked nationwide to get out the vote for U.S. Senator John Kerry on Election Day, one of the largest mobilizations of a union at the time. George W. Bush was re-elected, but 1199ers did not hang their heads.
“We still have hope for a brighter future, said Edna Warner, a New York Hero dispatched to Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m so proud of what we’ve done. We can take the knowledge and wisdom we’ve gained from this to other campaigns.”
Four years later, 1199 stepped up its mobilization efforts and its work with union allies to elect Barack Obama—the nation’s first Black president.
The work doesn’t stop—this era will educate people about the right to vote.
Elliot Godoff, who was instrumental in building worker during the early days of 1199 in the 1940s and 50s.
– Edna Warner New York Hero
1199 Magazine page from the early 1970s, showing Union members fighting for fair contracts during the Nixon administration.
1199er Edna Warner (left) getting out the vote for U.S. Senator John Kerry in 2004.
Working on a step-down unit at Mount Sinai main campus, 1199 PCA Jennifer James, says that as a former teacher, she understands the importance of patience, adding: “It is important to listen, and to let people vent.”
