1199 Magazine

1199SEIU Virtual Dance Party. Join us on Friday! Read More

1199SEIU members at Stony Brook University Hospital and affiliated Southampton and Eastern Long Island Hospitals are extremely proud of the work we do. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have consistently put aside our fears and come to work because we are dedicated to our patients and the communities of Eastern Long Island. Read More

“Expanding Medicaid coverage in Florida under the Affordable Care Act has always made sense, but today as millions of state residents lose their jobs and their health insurance in the middle of a deadly pandemic, it never has been more critical. Read More

As we begin our first contract negotiations with the employer, we need to know what issues are important to you and what you would like to see included in our first contract. It is important for everyone to complete the survey so that your voice is heard! Read More

It’s been a long journey for justice for a group of caregivers who work at a Mentor group home in South Florida. The workers, who care for people with medically complex needs and people living with a disability, have for years been underpaid and had no voice on the job. Caregiver Nancy Charlestin knew the only way to make positive changes was for her coworkers to unite and take action. Read More

This week, the Yankees honored eight 1199ers before Friday night's game against the Boston Red Socks! Read More

NEW YORK — As the coronavirus spread silently through New York City early this year, Deborah Koeppel had an appointment with her cardiologist and two visits with her primary care doctor. Both physicians are members of Concorde Medical Group, a practice in Manhattan with an office conveniently located a few blocks from where Koeppel works. Read More

Advocates from across the state penned a letter to Maryland House and Senate leaders Monday, imploring them to convene a special session to address a slew of problems Marylanders are facing as 2020 wears on. Read More

The school-based licensed mental health professionals of the Department of Behavioral Health School Mental Health Program stand in solidarity with the Washington Teachers Union’s call to only reopen schools when it is safe. Read More

I, do hereby give to 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, their successors and assigns, my permission to use pictures made of me and comments made by me on this date in video tapes, printed material, digital media, advertisements, and any other materials without payment to me for such use. I will make no monetary or other claim against 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East for the use of the pictures and/or comments. I further agree to indemnify and hold harmless 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, their successors and assigns, from and against any and all liability that might arise out of any use or publication of said comments and pictures. Read More

Today we welcome 29 new members at Vassar Brothers Medical Center into the 1199SEIU family. They are joining hundreds of fellow members at the hospital and elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, who have already negotiated some of the best pay and benefits in the country. Read More

In the battle against COVID-19 there are legions of heroes. Every day, essential workers demonstrated for the world what exemplary care and compassion look like. Read More

1199SEIU members from Upstate New York to South Florida held a union wide lunchtime walkout on June 11 to demand police reform and justice for victims of police violence. During the walkout, tens of thousands of workers gathered outside their facilities and took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on George Floyd’s neck and suffocated him to death. Read More

A lot of people may not recognize Suzette Roberts as a hero. She doesn’t wear scrubs or a stethoscope. There haven’t been vivid images of her and her co-workers struggling through hospital hallways. But she is a hero, nevertheless. Read More

As the COVID-19 crisis engulfed New York City, the relentless whine of sirens drowned out the lockdown induced silence on the city’s streets. New Yorkers faced staggering death tolls and renewed pressure on long existing disparities Read More

Even before New York City became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, its Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system was the busiest in the nation. But as the virus took hold on New York City, the system was quickly overwhelmed. What was an ember in early March raged into a wildfire just two weeks later. The number of emergency calls rose from about 4,000 a day to 7,000. The usual monthly toll of cardiac arrests was being reached in less than a week. Read More

Dental Assistants from Union Community Health Center (UCHC) in the Bronx, which is affiliated with nearby St. Barnabas Hospital (SBH) rallied May 26 to celebrate their reinstatement and press St. Barnabas for crisis pay. The UCHC dental assistants were sent to St. Barnabas when their clinic closed in the surge of the COVID-19 crisis. Instead of being assigned work for which they were appropriately trained, they were given tasks far beyond their scope of work, including working with psychiatric patients and moving dead bodies. When they complained, Read More

At the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak John Gordan, a pharmacy tech at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital wanted to do something to help his community. As a tenant’s rights activist and candidate for local office, he knew that North Country New Yorkers would be hit hard by the pandemic physically, psychologically, and economically. So Gordan and a friend set up a mutual aid Facebook group, “North Country Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” Read More

As Florida’s COVID-19 crisis escalated, Registered Nurses represented by 1199SEIU at institutions operated by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) rejected COVID-19 protocols handed down by their employer because they weakened protections and increased the vulnerability of caregivers at HCA facilities around the state. Read More

This is a surreal moment. I know I don’t have to tell you as caregivers about the ways COVID-19 has inflicted tragedy on our lives. This virus is an invisible enemy, inflicting visible pain on so many, but we are continuing to fight to save the lives that have been entrusted to us for care. Read More