1199 Magazine

The founders of 1199 shared a deep commitment to organizing all healthcare workers regardless of job classifications. They were active in the 1930s, the heyday of industrial unionism. Read More

“Today, balance and justice have been restored to the White House, and to the halls of government. The election and inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is a shift in the dysfunction and chaos of the last four years, to a real, principled commitment that will help unify and heal our nation. Read More

“Senator Chuck Schumer has been a long-time champion of New York’s working people and has made it his priority to fight for the needs of healthcare workers here in New York State and in Washington, DC. Read More

I am very happy because this morning I received my rst dose of the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine. I hope our members and retirees will also embrace the vaccine to protect themselves and their families. For the last year, we healthcare workers have seen this deadly virus take the lives of our patients, co-workers on the frontlines, and our family and friends. Read More

Our Union mourns the death of one of its greatest friends, David Dinkins. New York City’s only African American mayor passed away Nov. 23 at his Manhattan home. He was 93. His wife of 67 years, Joyce Dinkins, a celebrated children’s advocate, died only six weeks before him, on Oct. 11. Read More

With the exception of Maryland- D.C. and Florida districts, 1199 is not generally viewed as a political force below the nation’s Mason-Dixon line. Nonetheless, our Union’s retirees throughout the South are flipping the script. Read More

Ansel Oommen, a clinical laboratory technologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, lives where art and science meet. Since childhood, as an emerging artist he used his creativity to process emotions for which he did not yet have words. As he grew older, Oommen was also drawn to the sciences and the natural world. Read More

At Clark Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (CNRC) in Clark, NJ, 1199SEIU members care for a broad spectrum of patients. Caregivers at CNRC treat patients recovering from surgery and seniors needing long-term care. CNRC members also work on a ventilator management unit, where they treat patients unable to breathe on their own. COVID-19 has highlighted not only the importance of this work, but also the professionalism and dedication of those who do it. Read More

In the 1960s, the blue and white 1199 paper hats became a powerful symbol of economic and racial justice. The hat was worn during the hospital organizing drives in the early 1960s, but it began to symbolize progressive struggles especially after the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Read More

Caregivers set to protest low wages, poor benefits, and inadequate staffing levels in fight for contract and call for industry reform. Read More

For hundreds of 1199ers, Jan. 20 is the anniversary of one of the most important days of their lives. These 1199ers were present 12 years ago for the inauguration of the first African American president in our nation. Read More

We are less than two weeks into 2021, and our nation is at a dangerous crossroads. The road behind us is littered with violent acts of insurrection. The path ahead is uncertain, as mobs plan more riots as Inauguration Day approaches. Read More

As you know, healthcare workers are at an increased risk of contracting the virus and unknowingly passing it along. We know it has been especially challenging to protect yourself and your family as flu season and the surge in the ongoing pandemic have collided, creating the potential for a “twindemic” that threatens to pressure our already stressed healthcare system. Read More

As promised, 1199SEIU is doing all we can to provide education and resources to keep our membership informed and updated about COVID-19, vaccinations, and the guidelines and protocols necessary to keep us safe and healthy. Read More

Just as healthcare workers have fought in the current pandemic to heal America, they also face the work of healing themselves. Every day, healthcare workers bear witness to severe illness and mass death while simultaneously tending to dozens of patients requiring previously unseen levels of care. At the same time, they are also fighting to protect themselves and their families from the novel coronavirus, and too often, they must heal themselves and/or family members after infection. Add to that health care’s pre-existing structural problems: susceptibility to worker burnout, and an already marginalized workforce that is overwhelmingly Black, Brown, and female. Read More

As New York State’s Buffalo Niagara Region comes up against a second wave of the coronavirus, the area’s Catholic Health (CH) hospital system is relying on a strong foundation of preparedness and lessons learned during February’s COVID-19 outbreak. Read More

In what is arguably the most consequential presidential election in American history, 1199ers overcame the challenges of a global pandemic and helped Joe Biden and Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump. Now, members are setting about the work of undoing the damage done by four years of Donald Trump while at the same time battling COVID’s second wave. Read More

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed two bills on Oct. 23 ordering historic reforms to the Garden State’s long-term care industry. The laws are the culmination of a years-long battle to improve conditions for New Jersey’s long-term care workers and the residents for whom they care. 1199ers have been at the forefront of the struggle, so the day was one of pride and emotion. Read More

After a protracted struggle that spanned over a year and through the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers at NYU Winthrop University Medical Center in Mineola, NY, have their first collective bargaining agreement as members of 1199SEIU. Read More

Cathy Mahar, a first assistant surgery RN at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Buffalo since 1987, grew up with the Golden Rule, and it’s one of the reasons she became a nurse. “I wanted to take care of others, and people who are sick,” she says. Mahar’s parents were her biggest supporters, encouraging her into the profession. She credits her high school ROTC program with encouraging her toward the education and discipline she needed to become a nurse Read More