Close to 200 of 1199SEIU Florida’s delegates came together in Orlando on December 13 to celebrate our 2013 achievements, strategize about how to best meet our goals and prepare the upcoming year’s contract, legislative and electoral campaigns.



Delegates opened the assembly with a moment of silence for two 1199SEIU delegates who passed away in 2013, Dawn Embden and Marla Novotny, and for President Nelson Mandela. After honoring fallen soldiers, delegates spent the morning reflecting on the 2013 achievements, like:

• Settling 35 nursing home contracts in Florida;

• Exceeding the goal nursing home members set to recruit new political action fund (PAC) contributors for 2013 by 768;

• Electing 329 1199SEIU Florida delegates;

• Developing stronger worksites through consistent and meaningful union chapter meetings, labor management committees and new employee welcoming committees and

• Increasing our skills to lead our co-workers at our hospitals and nursing homes through union-led trainings, CEUs and graduating more than 30 1199SEIU members in SEIU Florida’s Leadership Academy



“I’m empowered by the nursing home members for being top in membership and PAC recruitment,” said Marcia Ridgell, a nurse at West Boca Regional Medical Center. “I know we on the Tenet hospital team can step up and meet them in 2014.”



Delegates voted to set the following goals for the upcoming year: • Train more delegates and members to solve issues in our worksites and build chapters of excellence inside our nursing homes and hospitals;

• Support members at 19 HCA-affiliated hospitals to negotiate contracts that will build upon the achievements they have made in gaining a stronger voice in their hospitals;

• Organize more nursing home workers into our union;

• Reignite our fight for Medicaid expansion so more Floridians will have access to healthcare;

• Increase the role of the nurse council and pro-tech committees in our hospitals;

• Strengthen community partnerships so we can elect a new governor in 2014 who will go to bat for working families, patients and our professions.



“Workers are the cornerstone of our nursing homes, hospitals and communities. We need to activate our voices because we are the ones who interact with management, patients and doctors,” explained Vera Nelson, a cook at Rosewood Health and Rehabilitation Center in Orlando. “We know the things that need to change, so let’s use our voices until changes are made!”