On June 27, the Physician Assistants at Mount Sinai Queens voted overwhelmingly to form a union with 1199SEIU, joining fellow PAs in New York City hospitals who have also organized collectively in recent years.

“When we looked around at other professionals in the healthcare field in New York City, we could see that those with 1199 contracts had better pay and conditions than we did—not to mention job security. It was time for a change, so we came together and formed a union of our own,” said Johanna Olaya, a Physician Assistant activist at Mount Sinai Queens.

Between June 18 and July 9, hundreds of workers in the Hudson Valley voted to join 1199 at five different multi-speciality medical facilities owned by Optum. They include Fishkill Merritt; Fishkill Westage; Hudson Valley; Putnam Hospital; and Mount Kisco. To date, more than 635 Optum workers have voted to join 1199 in ten different elections.