An early March snowstorm in New York’s Mohawk Valley did not stop 1199SEIU members and their supporters from holding an evening candlelight vigil outdoors, in front of Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home (NLH/NH) in Gloversville. The healthcare workers, with generous support from the unions of the Capital District Area Labor Federation, organized the event to inform the community about what’s at stake for everyone when 1199 members go to the bargaining table with NLH/NH n March 11th.

Christy Carpenter Hughes, a CNA at the nursing home, said, “What happens to us workers at Nathan Littauer affects all of the residents in the hospital and nursing home’s service area. We not only provide essential services to our community, but also we and our families are part of this community and want to see it prosper and thrive.”

The workers have been trying, to no avail, to settle a contract for nine months. At the 15th bargaining session last month, the 1199 committee offered several counterproposals, but management insisted that it had presented its final offer. Certain that there is more room to negotiate, 1199 members petitioned the employer to request that a Federal mediator be brought in to help settle a fair agreement. Maintaining that they will not move at the bargaining table, the employer finally agreed to invite a mediator to the next session.

“We’ll be standing with the 1199SEIU workers for as long as it takes to get a fair contract,” said Frank Natalie, Executive Vice President of the Capital Region Area Labor Federation. “The workers at Nathan Littauer are not separate from this community – they are this community. If they aren’t treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, patient care suffers—those patients are family, friends and neighbors. What’s more, when the workers employed by one of the larger area institutions are hurting financially, so goes the economy. It’s clear what these folks want is to be able to do what they do best --- provide quality care to their patients.”

CSEA 818 President Ron Briggs said, "If we don't take care of each other in the county, who is going to take care of us? So we have to make sure that all members of our community are making a living wage and able to support themselves."

In addition to the outpouring of support from teachers, nurses, plumbers, public employees and dozens of other labor union members, members of the Gloversville Common Council and the New York State Assembly also came to shore up the 1199 workers. Pastor Craig Jones of Amsterdam First Baptist Church delivered the opening prayer. He said he understands the value of health care workers because his grandmother was a nurse in the Buffalo area for a long time. “Your situation hits close to home,” he said.