1199 began as New York City pharmacists’ Union in 1932 and New York City remains, to this day, the primary base of the organization. In 1959, the largely male, Jewish drugstore Union began to transform itself by launching drives to organize the city’s voluntary, not-for profit hospitals and their primarily female, African-American and Latino workers.
Number of Members: 200,000
Number of Delegates: 4,247
Number of Facilities: 1,138
Delegates
Everyday, 1199SEIU members are continuing to build on our historic growth in New York by uniting and organizing healthcare and home care workers across the state.
1199SEIU retirees and leaders were among the 10,000 activists who marched and rallied February 11 in Raleigh, N.C., for jobs, education, voting rights and other justice and equality issues.
The long struggle to free Jon-Adrian Velázquez, the wrongfully imprisoned son of 1199SEIU retiree Maria Velazquez, was given a major boost on February 12.
In 2010, the 1199SEIU Executive Council voted unanimously to endorse then-State Senator Eric Schneiderman in a highly competitive campaign to become New York’s Attorney General. At the time, President George Gresham said of Schneiderman, “His commitment to working families and social justice are what makes him the strongest candidate in this race and we will work incredibly hard across the state to get him elected.”
The federal Department of Labor is proposing to revise the Fair Labor Standard Act to include most home health workers.
