I received my first COVID-19 vaccination shot at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx on Jan. 20. Except for a slightly sore arm, I feel great. What’s more, I feel overwhelmingly relieved. As many of you know—and as I have openly discussed on our Tele Town Halls, Conference Calls and Zoom meetings—for the nine months, I’ve been isolating from my family, including my children and grandchildren, in an effort to protect them and myself. It’s been a difficult sacrifice, but to be sure a small one compared to sacrifices you have made on the front lines of the pandemic. Read More
1199ers and community members from the Rochester, NY-area gathered on Zoom Jan. 18 for the 40th Annual Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York State Assemblyman Desmond Meeks was this year’s keynote speaker. Meeks was joined on the program by singer Zahiya and the Womba Africa dance troupe. Read More
Frustrated 1199ers at four New York City clinics run by Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) held informational pickets Jan. 7 to demand that management stop dragging their feet and settle a fair contract now. Read More
Maya Wiley’s week may not have started well, just missing the threshold to qualify for public funds, but it’s ending with a bang: the largest union representing the city’s healthcare workers, 1199SEIU, announced Friday that they are giving their endorsement — and their mighty political muscle — to her mayoral campaign. Read More
The endorsement by Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union is a major win for Ms. Wiley. The union was a key early supporter of Bill de Blasio in another crowded mayor’s race in 2013. Read More
MIAMI----Members of the state’s largest union of healthcare workers, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, are objecting to a contract demand by Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA) that would eliminate anti-discrimination workplace protections at hospitals across Florida. Read More
After four years of the most corrupt, dishonest, cruel, racist, misogynistic, incompetent, science- and fact adverse administration in history–– and one ending with a murderous assault on the U.S. Capitol––the Biden-Harris White House has its work cut out for it. And so do we. Read More
February is Black History Month. For generations of American pupils, this time of year meant an annual, cursory lecture on George Washington Carver and the peanut. But more recent scholarship shows Carver to have been not only an innovative agronomist, but even a farseeing environmentalist. More typically, if we were lucky, we learned about Rosa Parks and her 1955 refusal in Montgomery, Alabama, to give up her bus seat to a white rider. Until recently, America’s Black History has been not only ignored, but also too often caricatured Read More
The demand for COVID-19 vaccines far outstrips current supplies and the Biden-Harris administration has made increasing supplies part of his new comprehensive strategy to combat the virus. The administration’s goal is to deliver 100 million shots in 100 days and expand access to vaccines to more Americans in the coming weeks by expanding the vaccine supply and creating more vaccination locations through a Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. Read More
Yesterday, more than 55 nursing home workers at Highland Park in Wellsville voted to ratify their first union contract, ending a very lengthy labor dispute with the nursing homeowner that begin in July 2018. after nearly three years of negotiating for a fair contract with the out-of-town for-profit employer. The labor dispute was marked by multiple worker protests, include a three-day strike. Workers are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. Read More
Dear Sisters and Brothers, thank you for all you are doing on the front lines of healthcare. Your commitment to our patients and our communities is, and has always been, exemplary. Read More
During the last decades of the 20th century, 1199 delegates were privileged to attend new members’ classes conducted by two veteran labor activists from Albert Einstein Hospital in the Bronx. One was Bernie Minter, a veteran of progressive 1930s labor struggles. Read More
I recently received the COVID-19 vaccine. I got vaccinated because I believe in science and because of my patients and my community. The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and is the result of groundbreaking research and tireless work of scientists. I encourage you to get vaccinated. As health workers, we have been at the forefront of this pandemic. We are the ones who have confronted this disease Read More
More than 300 Nursing Home workers at Buffalo Center, Ellicott Center and Corning Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing voted this week to ratify a new contract with their employer this week. The workers are represented by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East and had been working without a contract since it expired last April. The new agreement runs through April 2022. Read More
January 1959 was the infancy of the most significant organizing campaign in 1199’s history. After winning its first voluntary hospital representation election at Montefiore in the Bronx, the Union decided to go where no union had ventured before – New York City’s voluntary hospitals. Read More
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease is America’s leading expert on COVID-19. Dr. Fauci’s decades of experience, dedication to science, and steady demeanor have made him a trusted voice in the U.S. and around the world throughout the pandemic. He has advised eight presidents on infectious disease and global and domestic health issues. Read More
More than three hundred Nursing Home workers at Centers Health Care facilities in Buffalo and Corning went back to the bargaining table with their employer late this afternoon and have reached a Tentative Agreement. Read More
The founders of 1199 shared a deep commitment to organizing all healthcare workers regardless of job classifications. They were active in the 1930s, the heyday of industrial unionism. Read More
“Today, balance and justice have been restored to the White House, and to the halls of government. The election and inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is a shift in the dysfunction and chaos of the last four years, to a real, principled commitment that will help unify and heal our nation. Read More
“Senator Chuck Schumer has been a long-time champion of New York’s working people and has made it his priority to fight for the needs of healthcare workers here in New York State and in Washington, DC. Read More