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

Boston, MA (May 4, 2017) – The following is a statement from Tyrék D. Lee Sr., Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, in response to the House’s vote to pass the American Health Care Act: Read More

Hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents—seniors, children with disabilities, and individuals with pre-existing conditions—are now at grave risk of losing access to vital health services if this appalling bill passes the Senate. Read More

Massachusetts’ largest healthcare union denounces GOP’s dangerous replacement bill that will cost the state billions of dollars and jeopardize coverage for half a million residents Read More

1199ers joined with members from SEIU 32B, New York State Nurses (NYSNA), and unions representing auto, electrical, postal, government, communications and other workers, at a rally in front of the US Department of Labor that preceded the Peoples Climate March on April 29th. Read More

More than 35 busloads of 1199ers from New York, New Jersey and Maryland-DC were among the more than 200,000 marchers who descended on the nation’s capital April 29 for the People’s Climate March. Organized by the People’s Climate Movement, a coalition of dozens of organizations, the march called for social, economic and climate justice and resistance to the Trump administration and its cabinet of climate-change deniers. Read More

A total of 98 technical and services workers on Long Island, New York, have overwhelmingly signed on to join 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. There were 61 ‘Yes’ votes compared with just 16 who voted against. Read More