Our newly-elected President sets out her vision for her first 100 days.

It is an honor to write this column as your newly-elected President. I am humbled that you—dear members of 1199SEIU—have entrusted me with the great responsibility to lead our union at a time of major challenges to healthcare, and with big fights ahead to defend our jobs, families, patients, and communities. Members participated in our election in historic numbers. You spoke out, clearly and decisively, for a new era focused on unity, transparency, and putting members first. You recognized how fresh ideas are needed to bring renewed energy and a greater sense of shared responsibility and decisionmaking to our organization. This election was a celebration of your power as rank-and-file members to choose the direction of 1199.

As a Union, I know that our strength lies in the collective and in the wisdom of many voices. It is vital that every member—across each region, institution, and job title—feel real ownership in 1199. This is, after all, your union, and every elected officer, staff member, and myself as President, work for you

This is why we are hitting the ground running in these first 100 days. As part of our leadership team’s plan to align 1199’s priorities with the most pressing needs and concerns of the membership, I, alongside Secretary-Treasurer Veronica Turner-Biggs and the Executive Vice Presidents, will be hosting listening tours in each region

to hear directly from you about what matters most. I greatly look forward to receiving your input on how 1199 can best represent and support you and your co-workers on a daily basis.

At the same time, we are committing ourselves 100% to the national fightback against threats to healthcare and to our communities broadly. As this issue goes to print, more than $717 billion in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts are on the table in Washington, DC, which would amount to the largest gutting of healthcare funding in US history. It would impact jobs and care across the healthcare spectrum, from hospitals to nursing homes, homecare to outpatient clinics, and everywhere in between. As frontline healthcare workers, you know better than anyone how funding cuts harm patient care. Your voices are paramount in this struggle.

We need more staffing in our institutions, not less. We need higher wages and better benefits to strengthen the healthcare workforce of today and tomorrow. And we need real health equity in this country—where the zip code you live in, the color of your skin, your gender identity, your disability status, or any other characteristic does not determine your ability to access quality care.

Every day, we are witnessing how the Trump administration is seeking to erase decades of progress, taking away our rights and restricting our freedoms. Immigrants are facing especially

intense attacks, including within our own SEIU family. Fellow SEIU members, including Rumeysa Öztürk from SEIU Local 509 in Massachusetts and Lewelyn Dixon from SEIU Local 925 in Washington are immigrant workers who were recently swept up by ICE and detained without due process. Our collective action has now resulted in both of them being freed. We need to savor those victories and use them to fuel the many fights ahead..

So much is at stake for the future of our country. But no one is better prepared than 1199 to take on these challenges and organize, mobilize, and resist. With 1199 members at the helm of a reinvigorated movement and a union laser-focused on acting with collective decision-making and solidarity, I’m confident that we can succeed like never before. I look forward to leading alongside you, shoulder-to-shoulder and arm-in-arm. Let’s get to work.