Buffalo, NY – Today, Kaleida Health union nurses, clinical, professional, technical, service, dietary, and clerical staff represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East voted to ratify a new 3-year contract with the largest hospital system in WNY. The collective bargaining agreement includes industry-leading wages and safe staffing ratios. The agreement will cover over 6,300 union healthcare workers at Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children’s Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, HighPointe on Michigan, DeGraff Medical Park, and various community-based clinics. Of the members who voted, 91% from 1199SEIU and 74% from CWA Local 1168 and 1199SEIU were in favor of ratification. Read More

On Thursday September 1, a day before the start of Labor Day weekend, 1199SEIU members and community leaders rallied at the 7th Street Park in Hudson and asked: “Will Columbia Memorial Hospital have enough staff to meet the community’s healthcare needs throughout the holiday?” Read More

More than 1,000 members at the hospitals owned by Nuvance Health signed a letter to the Nuvance Board of Directors at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie and Putnam Hospital in Carmel, NY—calling on them to tackle short staffing. They sent the letter three different times, but unfortunately, when August came around, there was still no response. Read More

Member Political Organizer (MPO) Kenzi Stewart recently experienced an up-close look at the very worst of Hurricane Ian that decimated Southwest Florida. Ian tragically killed more than 100 Floridians and left many more desperate and displaced when their homes were destroyed. Stewart evacuated her Fort Myers home to ride out the storm with family in Port Charlotte, both areas hit hard by historic water and wind. At her worksite, Fawcett Memorial Hospital, a large portion of the building’s roof above the ICU was torn off by Ian’s Category 4 winds. Read More

Marching under the banner “Workers Leading, Workers Rising”—roughly 1,000 members and officers surged onto 5th Avenue to show solidarity with emerging unions at the Labor Day Parade in New York City on September 10th. Read More

The mainstream media has downplayed one of the biggest stories of the year. I’m referring to the tens of thousands of workers organizing themselves into new unions. I’d say they “somehow” missed the significance of the story—but, of course, the media is owned and run by billionaires; workers forming unions is about the last thing they want their viewers and readers to learn about. Read More

If ever there were a time to stand up for our families and our communities, this is it. It is less than two years since we went all out to help secure victory for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – at the height of the pandemic. Read More

Niagara Falls, NY - Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers have once again collaboratively approved a three-year agreement covering more than 680 union healthcare workers, roughly 70% of the medical center’s workforce. Read More

2022 Tentative Agreement with Kaleida Health Read More

Member Political Organizer (MPO) Jacquelyn “Jackie” Wheeler says the best way to protect our right to vote is to…vote. Read More

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1168 and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East have reached a tentative agreement with Kaleida Health for a new 3-year collective bargaining agreement that will cover more than 6,300 union healthcare workers at Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children’s Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, HighPointe on Michigan, DeGraff Medical Park, and various community-based clinics. The tentative agreement with the hospital system was reached late tonight, following intense all-day bargaining sessions held this week by union members and Kaleida management, as they fought to avoid a strike. Details of the agreement will not be made public until union committees are able to brief all members on the agreement. Read More

“It’s inspiring how our Florida healthcare workers have put themselves in harm’s way to care for others in Hurricane Ian, just as they have for more than two years on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. But it’s sad and angering that they face even greater risk due to a critical staffing shortage created by employers that put profits over people, and state leaders who allow this to happen. Read More

Do you have federal student loans or know someone who does? Do you/they work for a not-for-profit healthcare institution or other non-profit or government organization? Read More

Here are the resources and information you need to make sure your home and workplace are prepared for the hurricane season. Read More

Statement from Tim Foley, 1199SEIU Executive Vice President, on Approval of MassHealth 1115 Waiver Read More

Expresiones de George Gresham, Presidente de 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East: Read More

Statement of George Gresham, President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East: Read More

The healthcare heroes of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East will canvass neighborhoods across Florida on Saturday, September 17 in an effort to Get Out The Vote (GOTV) and support candidates that will serve the needs of working Floridians. Read More

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Healthcare workers within the nursing, clinical, technical, service, and clerical departments at Kaleida Health, who are represented by CWA Local 1168 and 1199SEIU, have overwhelmingly voted in favor of authorizing a strike should it be necessary. Having already extended their contract twice after months of bargaining, workers are exhausted and fed up with staffing shortages that have increased their patient loads exponentially and compromised the quality of care. They are seeking a fair contract that will enable Kaleida Health to recruit and retain critical staff and meet its new safe staffing ratios as required by state law, so that patients receive the quality care they need and deserve. Read More

After two years of sometimes tumultuous negotiations, an overwhelming majority of healthcare workers at WMC/HealthAlliance Hospital, members of 1199SEIU United Health Care Workers East, have ratified their first collective bargaining agreement. They voted to join 1199SEIU in early 2020. The contract includes: Read More