Opponents of a plan to store gas near Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York declared a partial victory in mid-May when Crestwood, the Texas-based company seeking to build the storage containers in the lake’s unlined salt caverns, announced it was abandoning plans to store methane gas in the area. According to a filing with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the company couldn’t secure long-term contractual commitments with customers. Read More

I’m so proud of 1199SEIU for many reasons, but one that I’m most proud about is our diversity. There are 19 countries in the world and I’d be surprised if there are many that aren’t represented in our union. When you include all the denominations, there are some two dozen major religions practiced in our country and 1199 members are included in all of them. And of course we also have thousands of non-believers. 1199ers can be counted across the political spectrum. And yet we are all together in one union. Read More

Hyannis, MA (June 27, 2017) – In response to the announcement about layoffs resulting from Quest Diagnostics’ acquisition of Cape Cod Healthcare’s outreach laboratory services, Tyrék D. Lee, Sr., Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, issued the following statement: Read More

Healthcare Workers at Baptist Nursing Home in Scotia to Hold Informational Picket on Wednesday Mobile Billboard with Quality Care Message Will Tour the Schenectady/Saratoga Region During the Day Read More

Call your Member of Congress NOW and tell them: Do not repeal the Affordable Care Act without a plan in place to ensure access to healthcare for all Americans. Don’t forget to share your own experience of why access to quality and affordable healthcare is important to you and your community! Read More

Boston, MA (June 22, 2017) – The following is a statement from Tyrék D. Lee Sr., Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, in response to the release of Senate Republicans’ healthcare bill: Read More

Stoughton, Mass. (June 15, 2017) – Dozens of healthcare workers hosted an informational picket outside Blue Hills Health and Rehabilitation Center to raise awareness of wage and staffing issues that are negatively impacting patient care. Read More

WHEN JEFF Jacoby criticizes labor unions as obsolete, he misses a vital point: Organized labor is different today than it was in the 1950s and ’60s (“Sorry, class warriors, but unions aren’t coming back”). Yes, the American workforce is changing. But so are labor unions. Unions represent a diverse workforce in some of our fastest-growing industries. Read More

We, the 56,000 Massachusetts healthcare workers of 1199SEIU and our families, offer this brief written testimony in strong support of An Act Eliminating Mandatory Minimum Sentences Related to Drug Offenses (H.741; H.820; H.989; & S.817). Today is the Juneteenth holiday commemorating the end of U.S. slavery and celebrated by African-American communities across Massachusetts and the nation. Today, June 19, 2017, it is also now widely understood and has been meticulously documented that mandatory minimum sentences — particularly for lower-level drug crimes — have a disproportionate, unfair and harmful impact on African-Americans and other communities of color. It is especially appropriate, therefore, that this Committee is hosting this hearing on this date. Read More

On Monday, June 12, hundreds of 1199 members—including clerical staff, housekeepers, dieticians, social workers, and technicians—braved the heat and held a one-day strike at five Fresenius dialysis centers throughout Brooklyn and the Bronx. They were joined by their nurse colleagues, who are represented by NYSNA. Both unions’ workers voted unanimously to authorize the one-day strike, and have been standing in strength and unity by attending each other’s negotiation sessions and working together for fair contracts. Read More

OUR JOBS, PATIENTS AND FAMILIES OUR UNDER THREAT. Politicians are trying to slash healthcare funding, the industry is rapidly undergoing major changes, non-union jobs are threatening our standards, and many of our employers are facing financial pressures and even closure. Read More

On June 7, 2017 service and maintenance workers voted to join with 1199. This group of workers, which include, housekeepers, laundry aides, cooks and floor techs join the Nursing and Dietary departments who have been 1199 members for ten years. Read More

“The health care plan proposed by the extreme right-wing will wreak havoc on our health care system by cutting hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid funding and weakening insurance protections, putting millions of vulnerable Americans at risk of losing coverage. As New Yorkers face this terrifying prospect, Governor Cuomo is taking immediate action to protect access to health insurance for all New Yorkers. .... Read More

"The Trump administration, backed by dirty fuel CEOs, is to abandon the US pledges under the Paris Agreement, which was a vital step towards avoiding a serious public health crisis caused by climate chaos. Read More

For more than 125 years, Union Hospital has been a vital asset for the people of Lynn, and its imminent closing requires all of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work to protect vital healthcare services and save crucial jobs. Read More

On Monday, 1199SEIU members at Brooks Memorial Hospital ratified a new collective bargaining agreement that will increase wages, provide additional training to caregivers, and improve security for workers in their jobs and in retirement. Read More

Today we welcome more than 50 new members from three Hudson River Health Care (HRHCare) community health centers in Long Island into the 1199SEIU family. Read More

Boston, MA (May 24, 2017) – In response to today’s release of the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the American Health Care Act, Tyrék D. Lee, Sr., Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, issued the following statement: Read More

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives irresponsibly passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) without an impact analysis from the Congressional Budget Office and clearly without consideration of the human cost. Read More

Statement of Milly Silva, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, regarding the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) scoring of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Read More