As part of the growing Fight for $15 movement, 1199ers at Boston Medical Center became the first hospital workers in the city of Boston to achieve a $15 per hour starting wage!

Meanwhile, Tufts Medical Center employees – who have been organizing to join the healthcare workers’ union, 1199SEIU, for over a year – scored a major victory. Under increasing pressure from hospital staff that have joined the Fight for $15 and a Union, Tufts management agreed it would also raise wages for all workers to $15/hour. Tufts has come under fire for paying wages that for many job titles are not competitive with other area hospitals.

Both of these victories follow a growing wave of national publicity and area victories surrounding the Fight for $15 movement.

“Winning $15/hour is a huge step for me towards a more stable future and it really shows the difference that having a union makes. It makes me even prouder to be an 1199SEIU member and proud to work at a hospital like Boston Medical Center that is doing the right thing for workers. I want to help spread the word so every hospital employee like me in this city can win the same.” - Douglas Forrester, a general cleaner at BMC and 1199SEIU member who has worked at the hospital for four years.

Check out the continuing coverage on this historic victory in the news!

The Boston Globe: LINK

Boston Business Journal: LINK

The Boston Herald: LINK