Hudson Valley 1199SEIU Delegates held an exciting Assembly in White Plains, NY on February 15, hosting l guest speaker Paul Gallay, the President of Hudson Riverkeeper. Riverkeeper is a member-supported watchdog organization dedicated to defending the Hudson River and its tributaries and protecting the drinking water of nine million people in New York City and the Hudson Valley.

Some 130 caregivers at Odd Fellow Nursing Home and other community supporters, braved the winter chill on January 25 and went to the picket line to get their message to the public. They made it known that they have done their fair share, and we are asking management to do the same. Union members at Odd Fellow are looking to protect their jobs maintain quality care for their patients.

The tents and sleeping bags belonging to Occupy Poughkeepsie in Hulme Park were evicted two weeks ago, but the Occupy movement is gaining momentum in New York’s Hudson Valley. “You cannot evict a movement whose time has come,” 1199SEIU Delegate Joy Lucky, an LPN at River Valley Care Center, told a crowd of over 125 people who came to support Occupy Poughkeepsie and celebrate its two-month anniversary.

While 1199SEIU members in the New York metropolitan area took to the streets on November 17 for the National Day of Action, healthcare workers further north enthusiastically rallied in solidarity. The National Day of Action for good jobs and a fair, democratic economy is the latest in a series of joint actions by the Occupy movement and labor and community organizations.

1199SEIU Member Political Organizers in New York’s Hudson Valley and Capital Region took to the streets in mid-October to campaign for the local candidates who would best represent the interests of working families and their communities. Their hard work proved successful when the ballots were counted on Election Day, November 8. Most 1199SEIU-backed candidates were elected.

1199SEIU members in New York City, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo were among the community groups and labor unions that held media events this week to launch a renewed campaign to stop New York State’s planned tax break for millionaires. The organizations, under the banner of 99 New York, called on elected officials to do the right thing and stop the $5 billion tax break that the wealthiest New Yorkers will receive if the supplemental tax rates on the wealthiest New Yorkers are allowed to expire as planned on December 31.

Thousands of Americans, including 1199SEIU members in New York’s Hudson Valley and Capital Region were disappointed in August when Hurricane Irene caused the closing of the National Mall in Washington, DC and the “Keeping the Dream Alive” march and rally was postponed.

Adhering to the motto, “all politics is local”, a phrase attributed to longtime Boston Congressman Tip O’Neill, 1199SEIU political activists in New York’s Capital Region and Hudson Valley took the 2011 primary elections very seriously.