In April the New York State Legislature passed, and Governor Cuomo signed, a change in the state’s public-employee labor relations laws regarding the legal Duty of Fair Representation. Public sector unions are no longer required to represent non-members in grievances, investigations, hearings regarding allegations or charges, or appeals of ratings.
“In their quest for even bigger profit margins, the rich and powerful have always tried to divide and suppress working people. Today, those forces are as shameless and well-funded as ever. This time, a flurry of corporate interests has launched a full-blown assault on working people through the courts, attempting to strip unions of our ability to effectively advocate for public workers.” – Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President
“Through struggle and sacrifice, workers built our unions and won a ladder into the middle class. Those gains proved precarious, however, as corporations tried to drive down costs and right-wing politicians attacked our social safety net. Now, in 2017, we are facing dramatically increased threats to job security, wages and benefits. Right to work legislation, once the province of the South, has moved North.” – George Gresham, President 1199SEIU
“What the Janus backers (and most commentators) miss is that agency fees are not just compensation for the financial costs of representation, but for the political costs of representing all the members in the bargaining unit and maintaining labor peace.” - Shaun Richman, the author of the Century Foundation report “Labor’s Bill of Rights.”
“It’s a mistake to focus on the individual plaintiffs,” says Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, an assistant professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University. “Instead, the focus should be on the conservative advocacy groups. … ALEC, SPN and the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity have all worked hand in glove over the past several years to cut back the strength of public-sector unions. The effects of this case will be felt far beyond the plaintiffs.”
“The supreme court this time appears to be poised to knock the legs from under union advocacy, in what would be a major victory for the rightwing jurisprudential movement,” said Dan Weiner, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan group.
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Approximately 43 nursing home workers at a 142 bed facility in Williamsville have been working without a union contract since December 31, 2022 when their 3-year contract expired. Negotiations for a new union contract began one month before the contract expired. To date management has met with the union only 5 times, which is significantly less than negotiations being held at other nursing facilities. Nursing home workers are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest healthcare workers union in the country. Read More
Approximately 43 nursing home workers at a 142 bed facility in Williamsville have been working without a union contract since December 31, 2022 when their 3-year contract expired. Negotiations for a new union contract began one month before the contract expired. To date management has met with the union only 5 times, which is significantly less than negotiations being held at other nursing facilities. Nursing home workers are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest healthcare workers union in the country. Read More
A New Orleans’-style funeral march to Governor Hochul’s office will be followed by non-violent civil disobedience to draw attention to the deadly impact of healthcare cuts. Read More
MIAMI – Caregivers and leaders with 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East met with officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (HHS/CMS) on March 16 to discuss solutions to the dangerous staffing, retention and care crisis in Florida’s nursing homes. Read More
Albany, NY: Thousands of caregivers, still reeling from three years of the pandemic, will descend on the Capitol to call on Gov. Hochul and legislative leadership to reverse healthcare cuts and Close the Medicaid Coverage Cap. Read More
After months of bargaining, taking action, and making our voices heard, nearly 1,000 members have a new contract at Elara that invests in caregivers! Read More
Rochester, NY – 1199SEIU members at The Pearl Nursing Center on Portland Avenue overwhelmingly voted to ratify a 3-year agreement today. Nursing home workers are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest healthcare workers union. Read More
“The 2023 Florida Legislation has begun, and our powerful organization of healthcare workers will fight to protect patients, caregivers and our communities. Read More
The 1969 Charleston, South Carolina hospitals strike was an early test of 1199’s strategy of joining union power with soul (civil rights) power. It was also an example of the Union’s deft use of its political influence in a hostile environment. Read More
Lillian Bannister became an 1199 member in 1994, when she started as PCA at Our Lady of Mercy in the Bronx. By the time she retired at
age 62, she had 27 years of service under her belt. Kadeen Kingston, a new Delegate and Unit Clerk at NewYork Presbyterian Methodist
Hospital in Brooklyn was born one year later. Read More
Charlie Hilario has been an 1199 activist for more than two decades, volunteering to take part in the Union’s political campaigns from the very beginning. During his time as a Delegate at NewYork- Presbyterian Hospital’s main campus in Washington Heights, he’s led so many new members through their orientations that he’s lost track of the exact number. Read More
When other children were dreaming of becoming astronauts, doctors or train conductors, Dr. Peniel Joseph had his heart set on being an organizer. That drive came from his mother, Germaine Joseph, who was an 1199 Lab Tech for nearly 40 years at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Dr. Joseph remembers joining his mom on the picket line in elementary school, and that affinity with political activism only grew stronger during his teenage years. Read More
When home care workers at Schofield Residence in Kenmore, New York, celebrated forming a union with 1199SEIU last December, it marked the beginning of a new chapter in home care organizing across the state. When these workers came together near Buffalo to vote
‘Yes’, they became one of the first licensed home health care agencies in Western New York to unionize. Read More
Providing high quality healthcare means being there when it counts – not only at the bedside, but behind the scenes as well. The Union’s Facilities members play a vital role, even though many patients who pass through a hospital’s hallways may never come across them. Read More
1199 members joined the Caring Across Maryland coalition of workers and healthcare advocates as they unveiled a package of bills for state lawmakers aimed at improving conditions for caregivers. The legislation would increase wages and provide greater oversight of
nursing home acquisitions. Read More
1199SEIU members in Rochester held their 42nd Annual Martin Luther King Celebration at Strong Memorial Hospital on January 17. Members came together to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King with music, dance, and poetry. Read More
On January 18, nearly 200 Massachusetts members united in-person and virtually for a statewide 1199 delegate and leader assembly. They came together to celebrate recent victories, identify and prioritize the challenges they face and to develop a shared vision for 2023.
Together, the delegates created action plans to build the union in each of their workplaces and approved policy priorities to tackle low wages and inadequate staffing across the board. Read More
For three decades the 1199SEIU Child Care Funds and the Child Care Corporation have provided quality services to over 400,000 children
and families of both Union members and the community at large. The Care for Kids Awards Gala on December 6 at the Lighthouse in Chelsea Piers was the first time since 2019 that members, officers and supporters were able to celebrate in person together since the pandemic began. Read More
New York City contracts with nonprofits to provide billions of dollars’ worth of critical social services to New Yorkers in need. But according to a recent study by the New School, roughly two-thirds of all full-time human services workers had earnings in 2019 which
fell below the city’s near-poverty threshold Read More