OUR HISTORY
Together They Marched How 1199 built its power.
“ We got more powerful as we became more political.” – Willie Mae Terry, Retiree
We are ending 2021 with strong victories with both the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes and the downstate Nursing Homes, following a narrowly averted strike. The nursing home win--involving contracts representing 33,000 members at 249 facilities in the greater New York metropolitan area--is important reminder of how the union built its power. A combination of unity and strategy
Carmen Ortiz [left], a retired Radiology Technologist and Delegate at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, NY. Ruby GrahamJoseph [right], a Secretary at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, NY. 22
November/December 2021
has enabled members to negotiate some of the best wages and benefits in the country without resorting to a major strike in more than 30 years. Among the many storied struggles, the 1989 League of Voluntary Hospitals and Nursing Homes contract fights shine brightly. The victory ended a decade that began with the Union torn by internal divisions. The low
point came in 1984 when members were led out on a 47-day contract strike, and a divided and weakened Union was forced to accept an inferior settlement. “Because of the divisions at the time, delegates had to fight to overcome the distrust among members,” says retiree Carmen Ortiz. At the time, she was a Bronx Montefiore Hospital radiology technologist and delegate with
