Monnie Callan Way was unveiled on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on June 14, commemorating a much-admired former 1199 Delegate and Social Worker who fiercely defended workers’ rights throughout her life.

“People who are wealthy can’t imagine what working people may suffer… and they often don’t care. Unions are the only way that workers can get what they need from the bosses,” she told the 1199 Magazine in 2017, when she was interviewed at age 90.

“For me, the Union is like an extended family, all working together to make the world a better place for everyone,” she added.
During the 1980’s, working as a social work coordinator at Montefiore, Callan was dedicated to patients affected by the HIV virus in the early stages of the epidemic.

During Callan’s tenure, Montefiore launched an early response to the disease, earning the designation of one of the first comprehensive AIDS centers in New York State. Callan was among the 1199ers who attended the First
International AIDS Conference in Paris in 1986.