“I am an entertainer in my soul,” says DJ Ketchup—aka Chaheem Priest, an 1199 Resident Support Worker at Glendale Nursing Home in Schenectady, New York. He’s worked there since 2008, only taking a short hiatus during the height of COVID.
Just one month after marking National Physician Assistants week, a group of 345 Physician Assistants (PAs) at Montefiore Medical Center’s Weiler and Moses campuses voted to join 1199 in November. All the PAs in the Montefiore are now part of the Union family. At the beginning of 2022, the Union welcomed another group of PAs at New York Presbyterian’s Methodist Hospital. As more and more PAs come into the fold, 1199 Magazine caught up with some of them to learn about their valuable contribution to the healthcare system.
More than 6,300 healthcare workers at the largest private hospital system in Western New York won a new three-year contract in October, which includes wage increases of at least 12 percent and improved RN wage scales to help recruit and retain amid the national shortage. With this contract, Kaleida members will maintain their status as the highest paid healthcare workers in the region.
Florida members living and working in the path of Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on September 28, are still reeling from its effects. It was the most deadly hurricane to strike their state since 1935.
In a year when union organizing nationwide saw a dramatic resurgence, thousands of healthcare workers seized the moment to come together with 1199SEIU and build their labor power. At press time, the latest figures from the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] showed a 53-percent increase in petitions filed for union representation in 2022 compared with the previous year
We dodged disaster in last month’s midterm elections. Despite all the polling and predictions, the GOP “red wave” largely receded and ended up being little more than a dribble. The Republican Party now has far too many members who openly espouse white supremacy, misogyny, contempt for science and for public health to appeal to mainstream voters.
As we say goodbye to 2022 and usher in the New Year, we have many achievements to look back on to make us proud, as well as hopeful. There are promising signs on the horizon for the year ahead.
Rochester, NY – Yesterday, 1199SEIU members at The Pearl Nursing Center on Portland Avenue held an informational picket to call attention to their lack of a fair contract. Nursing home workers are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
Buffalo, NY – Last month, union workers at Promesa’s Alba de Vida clinic participated in Labor Management Meetings to address safety planning at the lower west side clinic. That safety planning helped make life-saving changes in their workplace prior to a shooting at the clinic in Buffalo.
Direct care pay has historically remained low due to multiple factors, including under-investment in long-term care services and intersecting legacies of sexism and racism that undervalue caregiving work and those who provide it.