We have been involved in contract negotiations since October 2018 and by now you know that management at ESPC has placed the entire budget for bargaining on wage improvements, but they neglected to take into consideration other important improvements necessary for recruitment and retention. As we are a member driven organization, your bargaining team need to hear from you in order to know how to move forward with bargaining. Read More

1199SEIU President George Gresham has released the following statement regarding the Trump Administration’s May 2nd CMS ruling designed to prevent independent provider home care workers from automatically deducting wages and allocating them for union dues. Read More

These days, it's easy to go down the rabbit hole of “why”. We’re bombarded with motivation analysis. And the pitch of that conversation is ever-rising as we churn toward the 2020 election; pundits are in a 24-hour dissection cycle of electability, likeability, wonkiness, voter identity, voter class, party, etc. We hear over and over about the aggrieved “working people” who elected Donald Trump. Less frequently do we hear about the cadre of billionaires, multinational corporations and right-wing power brokers whose collective interests and work brought us the current administration. Read More

In a unanimous vote, The Sands at South Beach Rehabilitation and Nursing Center members recently approved their new contract. It’s a strong contract that runs through 2022. It includes annual wage increases as well as higher minimum rates for most employees. Plus, there are no losses. Read More

The East Brooklyn Call to Action for Health and Economic Justice was an opportunity for community leaders, activists, and advocates to come together and discuss taking ownership of the community’s health, housing, education, and future. Read More

Busloads of NYC 1199ers headed east on April 17 to join their Suffolk County sisters and brothers for an informational picket at Long Island Community Hospital (LICH) in Patchogue. Read More

Certified Nursing Assistant Elomie Minott has a good reason to smile. That’s because she has returned to a job she loves – caring for her nursing home residents at the Rosewood Health and Rehabilitation Center, a facility in Orlando owned by Consulate Health Care. Minott was recently reinstated after she was unjustly fired a year ago. During that time, she struggled to make ends meet. “I almost lost my car and my home. If it wasn’t for my family, I couldn’t have survived,” said Minott. Read More

Justice has finally come for Jorge Tschebortarjew, a driver who worked at Hillcrest Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hollywood Florida for nearly eight years until he was unjustly fired in 2016. After a long hard fight to get his job back, Tschebortarjew was recently reinstated. He will also receive back pay and benefits. The 75-year-old grandfather and member of 1199SEIU described the victory as an arduous journey for justice. Read More

These 1199ers care for New York State’s North Country. Just above the Adirondack Mountains in Northeastern New York State lies the North Country. The region is also home to several 1199-represented healthcare facilities, including Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg and Carthage Area Hospital in Carthage. An area of abundant natural beauty, the North Country is bordered by Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. It’s home to Lake Champlain, the Thousand Islands and Fort Drum, home of the U.S. Army’s fabled 10th Mountain Division, the most deployed unit in the U.S. military. Read More

This year marks the 60th anniversary of 1199’s emergence as New York’s major healthcare union. The saga began with a resounding Dec. 30, 1958, victory of a 5,000-member pharmacy Union at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. But it was in 1959 when the workers won their first contract and 1199 undertook the daunting task of organizing 3,500 maintenance and service workers at seven private, nonprofit hospitals. Read More

When we fight, we win! The 2019 Leadership Conference convened Friday, April 12 and ran through Sunday, April 14th in Linthicum, MD, with over 350 members standing strong in attendance. The New York delegation consisted of members of African descent from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures, including our AFRAM STARS, millennials & retirees. Read More

Most of us have heard the message that a balanced diet packed full of fresh produce and limited in fried foods and sugar is one of the best ways to maintain overall health. Read More

Workers and community members in Washington, D.C., are fighting to change the narrative at one local hospital. United Medical Center (UMC), a quasi-public facility which has for generations served the residents of the District’s Southeast and Wards 7 and 8, is slated for a dramatic downsizing which activists say is dangerous for Southeast residents and unfair to workers. Read More

Mount Sinai Social Worker Joanne Rutland was thirteen when she started working in health care. Read More

Antoinette Rose, a medical records analyst at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, and Anestine Bentick, a PCA at South Boston Community Health Center in Massachusetts, are among the members who are helping drive the current uptick in member involvement in the Union’s Political Action Fund. Read More

Maintaining Union Strength 1199SEIU Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) in Massachusetts have a lot of irons in the fire these days. In one of the bluest states in the nation, PCAs are working to maintain Union strength, while at the same time negotiating a new contract with the state. Undaunted, PCAs are intent on building on past gains for meaningful wage and benefit gains. Read More

A host of Maryland labor organizations joined students and environmental, faith, health, labor, and civic organizations in Annapolis Feb. 15 to push for the passage of the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) and other environmental legislation being considered by the Maryland General Assembly. Read More

With 18 months until the 2020 national election, the mass media is in permanent campaign mode— handicapping who’s going to win, who’s likable, who has no chance, who’s supporting whom, and so on. The issues—the things most important about an election—are considered secondary. Read More

The 2019 Maryland Legislative Session was exciting! With your help showing up to vote, knocking on doors, and contributing to our PAC, Maryland was able to elect a wave of younger, more progressive lawmakers. And as you’ll see below, many of those lawmakers passed bills that will help create real change for working families. Read More