In 1959, a group of 5000 New York City drugstore workers made the audacious decision to organize the city’s hospital workers. It was audacious because, among other things, it was against the law at the time and the leaders of what was then Local 1199 were prepared to go to jail. It was also audacious because those drugstore workers, overwhelming Jewish men, were going to organize tens of thousands of mainly Black and Latina women, who were being paid $32 for a six-day workweek.
Members and community allies, led by 1199SEIU President George Gresham, stopped traffic during rush hour in an act of non-violent civil disobedience in front of the Governor Kathy Hochul’s New York City office on March 29th. They held tombstones illustrating what is at stake if the state fails to inject much-needed dollars into healthcare provision in the FY2024 budget.
The time for a reckoning has come. In the early days of the pandemic, when hundreds or thousands of members were going into work—many of them literally risking death for themselves and their family members each day—everyone was focused on the job at hand of
saving as many people as possible.
Buffalo, NY – Healthcare workers, providers, and consumers continue to lobby elected leaders for increases to healthcare funding in the late state’s budget, and city mayors are likewise calling upon the Governor to support Upstate NY’s health needs. They are calling for Medicaid rate increases for hospitals and nursing homes of 10% and 20%, respectively, detailing the dire financial situation that many healthcare providers find themselves in, after three years of a pandemic which devastated the healthcare workforce and has significantly increased the need for community health services.
Mayors from the following cities sent letters urging Governor Hochul to invest in healthcare in the state’s budget:
More than 1,500 members of 1199SEIU, the nation’s largest healthcare union, have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a contract that will improve the lives of the workers, their families and patients, and will also help to recruit and retain staff
Statement of 1199SEIU President George Gresham, on the passing of Harry Belafonte:
Buffalo, New York—Budget negotiations are entering their fourth week past the April 1st deadline and healthcare workers across New York State are continuing an unprecedented string of actions to focus attention to New York’s healthcare crisis that would further deteriorate if
Medicaid isn’t funded adequately in the state budget. Workers are also calling for a reversal of major cuts to funding for safety-net hospitals and homecare workers’ wages contained in the Governor’s budget proposal.
2022-2025 Union Contract with Kaleida Health
We made it to the end of Maryland’s legislative session! Many of the bills that 1199 supported passed the state legislature and will soon be signed by Governor Wes Moore.
MIAMI –Caregivers and leaders from 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East will host a virtual panel with Florida State Representative Michele Rayner (HD-70) and other officials on April 20 to discuss solutions to the dangerous staffing, retention and care crisis in the state’s nursing homes and hospitals.