The Department of Homeland Security granted a critical 6-month extension of Temporary Protected Status, TPS, for the over 58,000 Haitians currently enrolled in the program. This extension is an important victory but it is not enough. Normally, extensions are for 18 months. This crucial program that has served and protected tens of thousands of Haitians who fled devastation on their home island. It is unconscionable for Homeland Security and the White House Administration to seek to end TPS. 1199SEIU healthcare workers know the contributions Haitians living in the U.S. under TPS make not just at work, but to their communities back home. The Trump Administration must take a clear and strong stance to protect our Haitians brothers and sisters by extending TPS for a longer more reasonable amount of time,” said George Gresham, President, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. Read More

Boston, MA (May 22, 2017) – In response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s announcement today extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian refugees for six months, Filaine Deronnette, Vice President of Health Systems at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, issued the following statement: Read More

Today we welcome more than 30 new members from St John’s Riverside Medical Center into the 1199SEIU family. Read More

Dr. Leana Wen has served as Baltimore, Maryland’s City Health Commissioner since January, 2015. Before taking the job she was an emergency room physician, public health professor and activist for domestic and international policy to provide better access to healthcare and life saving pharmaceuticals. Read More

1199SEIU represents tens of thousands of Professional and Technical workers and Registered Nurses. Read More

Monnie Callan has been a union activist for more than half her life. And with a recent celebration marking her 90th birthday, that is certainly saying something. Read More

Not since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called Obamacare, had the stakes been so high. From coast to coast, people raised their voices, crowded into town hall meetings and unleashed a social media storm that opposed the cruel, inhuman Congressional bill that was supposed to replace the ACA. Read More

From Brexit in the U.K. to President Trump’s victory here at home, recent events convey that the world is tilting right. The McKinsey Global Institute recently reported a trend toward the decline of incomes for middle class workers. Some 70 percent of households in the 25 wealthiest nations saw their earnings drop in the past decade. Read More

On the afternoon of March 24, thousands of 1199SEIU members took a moment to celebrate a hard won victory when Rep. Paul Ryan pulled the Republican healthcare plan and let stand President Obama’s signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act. It culminated one of the first major battles of the Trump Presidency for working people. Read More

With a contract that expired on April 30, 2017 and a couple of months of negotiations that have not resulted in agreement, the 1199SEIU Absolut Bargaining Committee, representing 900 workers at Absolute Care nursing homes, voted unanimously to hold an informational picket, after management refused to budge on what members are calling ‘meager wage proposals’. Read More

Northampton, MA (May 16, 2017) – The following is a statement from Tyrék D. Lee, Sr., Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, in response to the announcement about a free and fair election process at Cooley Dickinson Hospital: “We have developed an agreement with Cooley Dickinson Hospital that outlines a free and fair election process and offers service and technical workers in specific units of the hospital’s workforce the opportunity to vote for or against joining our union. This agreement is another important step in our ongoing advocacy to ensure all workers – including those not yet unionized – have good jobs, fair wages and respect, dignity and a voice in the workplace. Read More

Justina Cioffi is an active RN delegate at St. Mary’s Hospital in West Palm Beach, FL. She’s a member of the Union’s contract negotiating committee and participates in political events. Ask her what it’s like doing this work in Florida, a right-to-work (for less) state, and she keeps it simple: If she doesn’t, workers will lose even more of their hard-won gains. Read More

More than 800 healthcare workers have been killed in the six-year old war in Syria. NPR recently reported a study which shows Syria to be the most dangerous place on earth for the world’s healthcare workers. The work was published in the March edition of The Lancet, a British medical journal. Read More

Braving icy winds from the East River, 1199SEIU members held an informational picket before delivering a message of solidarity for Liberia’s healthcare workers to the country’s mission near the United Nations on Feb. 17. Caregivers in the West African nation have been on the front lines of the Ebola crisis and have been fighting an anti-union effort led by the nation’s government Read More

Massachusetts gathered with hundreds of workers, immigrants and community advocates for a rally Feb. 21 under the banner of “We Will Persist.” The event highlighted Commonwealth residents’ dedication to standing together for quality jobs, affordable healthcare coverage, immigrant rights and a voice in important decisions that affect the state. U.S. Senator Ed Markey and Representative Joe Kennedy III joined the event at Boston’s Irish Famine Memorial. Read More

It should not come as a surprise to 1199ers that working people these days have few friends in high places in Washington, D.C. Despite President Trump’s claim to represent the working class, his chosen cabinet and close circle of advisors includes only billionaires, multi-millionaires, and a handful of retired generals. Read More

Opponents of a plan to store gas near Seneca Lake in upstate New York prevailed this week, after Crestwood, a Texas-based corporation, announced it is abandoning its effort to expand fracked gas storage in unlined salt caverns along the lake. According to a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the company couldn’t secure long-term contractual commitments with customers. Read More

Hundreds of 1199SEIU Registered Nurses gathered at the state capital in Albany, New York this week to warn elected officials about the crisis faced as the nationwide nursing shortage widens. New York State is ranked as having the third worst RN shortage after Florida and California. Read More

Today we welcome more than 60 new members from Greater Hudson Valley Health System into the 1199SEIU family. Read More

“The Republican plan is about slashing care for children, seniors, working families and people with disabilities att he expense of give a $600 billion tax cut to corporations and the wealthiest Americans, said 1199SEIU President George Gresham. “It will cut coverage for millions, hurt the ability of healthcare workers to provide quality care, and kill jobs across the country. But this issue goes beyond even the physical and economic health of Americans, and speaks to the moral health of our nation.” Read More