On June 3rd, technicians at HealthQuest’s Hudson Valley Cardiovascular Practice (The Heart Center) in Poughkeepsie voted overwhelmingly to join with 1199SEIU, the largest and fastest-growing union for healthcare workers in New York state and nationwide.

The Heart Center employees will join hundreds of 1199 members at nearby Vassar Brothers Hospital in a multi-employer contract, which includes provisions that will allow them to sit down with management and address staffing, patient care, job safety and other policies. They will also benefit from 1199’s affordable healthcare, childcare, educational funding and fair wages.

“We were very excited to learn that we had won our election to join 1199SEIU,” said Amy Jordan, a Cardiac Echo Tech who has been with the Heart Center for nine years. “We work for a very good employer, but it’s an employer that has undergone some changes that made forming our union imperative. We’re looking forward to having a voice in our working conditions, patient care, and our future. Now, we can retire from the Heart Center one day knowing that we will have a pension for life.”