1199 June-September Issue

Work We Do: Bronx Home Care Cooperative

Safeguarding our Standards

Midterm Elections: Our Vote, Our Power

Build, Grow, Thrive: Florida on the Move

A Journal of 1199SEIU June-September 2026

CONTENTS 6

14 3 Opinion Julie Bush, a recently retired 1199 Radiology Tech from Upstate New York, describes the special challenges facing rural hospitals.

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4 Supporting Haitian Families The ending of TPS protections is a direct assault on healthcare workers and those they serve.

5 The President’s Column 1199 is the most influential and politically powerful organization of working people in the nation, and this year we will demonstrate our power and exercise our vote like never before.

Cover: Bargaining committee members, Ngomo Ekokobe, a Pharmacy Specialist at Montefiore Hospital Moses Campus in the Bronx and Allison Jumett, a Respiratory Therapist at Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital in Brooklyn celebrate the contract with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes at the Javits Center in Manhattan on July 7.

@1199seiu www.1199seiu.org 2

June-September 2026

6 Around the Regions Maryland members move health officials; Members celebrate Pride in NYC, Buffalo and Rochester; Commemorating Juneteenth; Assist Ambulance members settle first contract; Massachusetts PCAs win wage increases and Health Insurance Fund; 1199ers take to the streets for the Puerto Rican and Dominican Day Parades.

10 Work We Do Visiting a worker owned home care cooperative in the Bronx.

13 Every Conversation Matters Florida members are organizing an unstoppable force to advance the proud history of winning worker power in the Sunshine State.

14 Our Vote, Our Power 1199 member leaders are mobilizing a political movement to reclaim and expand the rights of working people.

17 Upholding the Gold Standard Nearly 400 members bargained around-theclock to secure the Union’s master contract which covers 86,000 healthcare workers in the New York metropolitan area.

19 Raising the Standard New York Nursing Home Members came together to protect Union jobs and improve recruitment and retention.

20 A Seat at the table Hundreds of new members were welcomed into the Union family this summer.

22 Our History George Gresham: an Appreciation.

Opinion: Julie Bush A recently retired 1199 Radiology Tech from Upstate New York describes the special challenges facing rural hospitals.

Until I retired this August at age 55, I worked at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center for 35 years – my entire career as a Radiologic & CT Technologist.

The hospital is located in Ogdensburg, New York, a city of roughly 10,000 people located on the southern shore of the St Lawrence River along the Canadian border. We’re about 400 miles north of New York City and we serve the largest county in the state – St. Lawrence County. It is a large rural area where transportation is often an obstacle to health care services and employment.

I’m originally from Harrisville, NY, an even more rural community which is known as the gateway to the Adirondacks.

I always appreciated the closeknit relationships that we were able to form at Claxton-Hepburn, both amongst the staff and with the patients. Patients would want to ask you questions about yourself the first time you did their exam as a new employee but then call you by your first name the next time they saw you at the hospital or out in the community.

When I joined the hospital in

1991, most of the hospital staff were 1199SEIU or NYSNA members. All of the service, maintenance, clerical & LPN staff were in the 1199SEIU Union. But the Radiology, Cardiology, Respiratory, Operating Room and Laboratory Techs were not. I could never understand why.

My father was a Charter Member & President of the United Paper Workers Union Local 1154 for 15 years when he worked at the Newton Falls Paper Mill. He didn’t want me to work for a hospital where the technologists were not unionized.

In 2022 after COVID, our veteran radiology staff knew how much traveling nursing staff were continuing to be paid and we had not been able to get an increase in our pay or on-call pay for several years.

These temporary workers did not care about our hospital and were not vested in its future. Compounded with the unpredictability of health insurance costs under a new hospital plan that we had to switch to because they were no longer using the nationally recognized Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage, but 1199SEIU was, helped me to sway my co-workers to Vote Yes.

“I may have retired from my job, but I’m definitely planning to stay active with 1199!”

 Julie Bush rallies in Albany with 1199 to press the state government to release more funds for Medicaid following drastic federal cuts.

As soon as the Techs formed a union with 1199, I immediately became a Delegate and a Bargaining Committee Member. I wanted to make sure that I was able to participate in contract bargaining before I retired. We recently signed a joint contract with Carthage Area Hospital in which we were able to negotiate long overdue wage improvements; a pension; guaranteed minimums; on call pay and longevity increases.

I’m glad we were able to unionize and reach a favorable agreement, but I do worry about the future. Being a rural hospital means we have lower Medicaid reimbursement rates than our Downstate hospital counterparts – while a large share of our patients rely on Medicaid and Medicare for their coverage.

The idea of joining the two Critical Access Hospitals together under the North Star Health Alliance umbrella was that there would be more money available for patient care. It didn’t work out that way though. We ended up with less money and the hospital declaring bankruptcy this past February. That was right after they announced 120 staff layoffs in January. Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center is now at risk of losing critical services like its OB department, which so many local people rely on for giving birth.

The writing was on the wall even before the bankruptcy, under our shared Administrative Team from Carthage Area Hospital, I noticed that service contracts on our radiology equipment were not being renewed. That was the first time in all my decades of service that I had ever seen that. And suddenly we couldn’t pay our long-time vendors for routine supplies.

People don’t realize that things could get even worse. With the cuts to Medicaid funding written into the Big, Ugly Bill that was passed last summer there will be even less money available to plug funding gaps in rural areas. And where is that missing Medicaid money going? Much of it is going into the pockets of the richest people in the country in the form of tax cuts.

It’s just not right. I’ve been to Albany with 1199 to rally for more Medicaid funding from New York State to plug the gaps that will be created by these federal cuts.

Locally, I have spoken at Ogdensburg City Council Meetings and local rallies on behalf of 1199 members. I may have retired from my job, but I’m definitely planning to stay active with 1199!

1199 Magazine June-September 2026 Vol. 44 No.3 ISSN 2474-7009 Published by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018 (212) 582-1890 www.1199seiu.org president

Yvonne Armstrong secretary treasurer

Veronica Turner-Biggs senior executive vice presidents

Charles Nystrom Nadine Williamson executive vice presidents

Jacqueline Alleyne Michael Ashby Lisa Brown Andy Cassagnol Roger Cumberbatch Adekemi Gray Todd Hobler Leigh Howard Benson Mathew Cari Medina Brian Morse Roxey Nelson Rona Shapiro Greg Speller Daine Williams editor

Sarah Wilson art direction and design

Maiarelli Studio director of photography

Kim Wessels contributors

Leyla Adali JJ Johnson 1199 Magazine is published four times a year—MarchApril-May/June-July, August/SeptemberOctober-November/ December-JanuaryFebruary—for $15.00 per year by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018 Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 1199 Magazine, 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018

1199 Magazine

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OUR UNION

Supporting Haitian Families The ending of TPS protections is a direct assault on healthcare workers and those they serve.

1199 members are sounding the alarm about the human cost of the June Supreme Court ruling, which effectively ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS)* for 330,000 Haitian refugees, tens of thousands of whom work in health care – including Union members.

Augustine Fils-Aime, RN, a Haitian American 1199 Delegate working at the Mt Sinai Behavioral Health Center in Lower Manhattan said, “I am a first-generation immigrant. My parents came to this country many years ago in search of a better life. Like many Haitian immigrants, my mother was a homecare attendant, and my father was a taxi driver. As Haitians, we are a very proud, hard-working people.”

Speaking to fellow 1199ers at the Delegate Assembly on July 27, she added, “While our family are now citizens, we have friends who aren’t and are terrified of what the future holds. These are families who own their own homes, who have children who are 6 or 7-yearsold and are American-born citizens who have never even been to Haiti!

“As a professional nurse, I also worry deeply about my patients and what it will mean when 50,000 Haitian healthcare workers across the country suddenly lose their ability to work. We already have a critical shortage of healthcare workers, and this is going to make matters even worse,” said Fils-Aime.

From Florida to Massachusetts to New York City, 1199 members have been taking to the streets to protest and highlight the cost of this cruel decision. In the recent Union negotiations with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes in New York, members negotiated a new Immigration Legal Defense Fund with $2 million available to assist members facing the loss of work authorization at the hands of the current administration.

Yvonne Armstrong, 1199SEIU President said, “Nursing home residents will lose their aides, homecare clients will lose their caregivers, hospital patients will lose trusted and experienced staff.

Innocent children and families will

“These are working people.

They are not criminals.

They are people who applied for TPS because they did not want to work in the shadows.”

— Sandra Britto, 1199 Delegate and PCT at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital in Lower Manhattan

x Augustine Fils-Aime (l) and Sandra Britto (r) speak out about the human cost of removing TPS protections.

The Union is conducting a fundraising drive through the 1199SEIU Bread and Roses Project to provide direct support for groceries and other necessities to the families of members who are now unable to work.

Scan here if you would like to help 4

June-September 2026

be forced out of communities they have grown up in.

“The vilification of immigrants is one of the oldest tricks in the authoritarian playbook. 1199SEIU stands committed to fighting these injustices—which pit working people against each other and harm all of us. We will continue to organize in defense of our families and neighbors, for our constitutional rights, and in solidarity with immigrant communities.”

Sandra Britto is another 1199 Delegate of Haitian descent who works as a PCT at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital in Lower Manhattan. “People are already afraid to go out of their houses when they hear that ICE is around. They are going to be sending people to Haiti who have nothing there and nobody.

They are sending people back to live on the streets,” she said, “These are working people. They are not criminals. They are people who applied for TPS because they did not want to work in the shadows.”

Margarette Nerette, an 1199 Vice President in Florida said, “This partisan Supreme Court has failed our communities again. This [decision] will have a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of healthcare workers and their families now facing possible deportation to a gravely dangerous situation in Haiti, as well as for many more nursing home patients dependent on their care across the state.”

1199 is providing weekly virtual workshops that offer accurate, up-to-date information to help affected members understand the current risks and answer questions in both English and Kreyol Ayisyen—and support family preparedness planning during this challenging time. *The US State Department advises which countries should be designated for TPS based on unsafe conditions created by unrest or national disaster.

There were 19 designated countries including Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Ukraine – countries from where many thousands of healthcare worker have fled. The Trump administration has moved to terminate all of these protections.

Our Vote, Our Power.

Change is within our grasp.

The President’s Column Yvonne Armstrong

Sixty-three years ago, 1199 members participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his iconic I Have a Dream speech. Our Union played an integral role in organizing that historic event— providing logistical and financial support and even chartering a special train to bring healthcare workers to the nation’s capital.

The impact of this massive mobilization, and the decades of struggle that preceded it, led to key civil rights victories in the following years, including passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Social Security Amendments of 1965 which established Medicaid and Medicare. The far-reaching effects of these transformative laws were enormous in advancing racial equity, expanding access to health care, and building democracy. This is part of our legacy as 1199ers.

Today, we find ourselves at another pivotal historical moment.

Those in power in Washington, D.C., are seeking to erase the progress we have made over the decades. They want to bring us back to the time when voting was a privilege—a privilege based on your skin color, your gender, your economic status—and not a fundamental right. They are seeking to dismantle the social safety net that millions of Americans depend on. And, they are hoping to cling to power by turning working people against each other by blaming immigrants and other vulnerable groups for our nation’s problems. But we see past these efforts to divide and distract us, and we continue to stand in solidarity with each other.

Every day, we experience the consequences of elections. The Republicans’ “Big Ugly Bill,” which slashed over $1 trillion in Medicaid funding to fund tax cuts for billionaires, and has already resulted in eight million Americans losing their health coverage this year. The Trumpappointed members of the Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act, allowing states to impose racially discriminatory congressional maps that dilute the voting power of minority communities. And the federal government’s inhumane decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from Haiti and other countries has forced hundreds of thousands of people out of work—including hundreds of 1199 healthcare workers this summer.

But, we refuse to go backward.

We are a union forged in struggle, and we know how to organize! We will not allow our hard-won gains to be dismantled by extremist politicians. 1199 is the most influential and politically powerful organization of working people in the nation, and this year we will demonstrate our power and exercise our vote like never before.

As 1199 members, you are the heroes this moment calls for.

You are the proud successors of generations of members who were called on to lead in challenging times. And just as we did in decades past, we will do so once again.

Healthcare workers have been cited as the most trusted voices in the nation. When we speak, people listen. So, between now and Election Day, November 3, let’s talk to our co-workers, our

1199 is the most influential and politically powerful organization of working people in the nation, and this year we will demonstrate our power and exercise our vote like never before. friends, and our neighbors about what’s at stake. Let’s make our plans to vote and bring others along with us. Let’s volunteer to knock on doors and make phone calls to spread the word.

As a huge, multi-state union, there are many local, state, and federal races within our footprint that may be won or lost by the narrowest of margins. Truly, 1199 can be the deciding factor in shaping the outcome of these races, and with them the balance of power in Washington. Nothing less than the future of our democracy is at stake.

As always, 1199votes.org is a one-stop resource for members to find out about our endorsed candidates, check your voter registration, and find volunteer opportunities near you. I am so excited to join 1199 members across our union as we organize, mobilize, and celebrate our vote this election season. Our vote is our power. Let’s use it to protect our communities, defend our democracy, and build a thriving future for every 1199 family.

1199 Magazine

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Around the Regions MARYLAND

Maryland members move health officials After it was announced that Communicare—a chain of Maryland nursing homes which employs 1199SEIU workers—was being sold, the state’s health care commission invited members who had experienced similar take-overs to give testimony in June.

The real-life stories told by members about deteriorating conditions after their facilities were sold moved Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) officials so much that they recognized the need to include workers’ testimony when drawing up regulations.

1199 members and union staff gave detailed accounts of what it looks like to work at a nursing home before and after a sale. Workers talked about sudden changes imposed by management, leading to increased staff turnover, and their feelings of letting down

residents and their significant needs.

Soon after the meeting, members of the MHCC reached out to share that our workers’ testimony convinced them to make a change in policy. In a June 18 memorandum published about the sale of Regency Care of Silver Spring, the MHCC ruled that, for the next five years, 75 per cent of the facility’s revenue must go towards direct resident care. Regency Care’s new owners will also be required to maintain the staffing ratios currently in place for the next five years. These rules will apply to future acquisitions, too, not just Regency Care’s.

Agnes Evans, a nursing assistant, joined The Nursing and Rehab Center at Stadium Place in 2013, when it was run by Catholic

Because 1199 members spoke movingly about how poor conditions at work impact both their jobs and patients’ health and safety, Maryland made a policy change that will benefit union and non-union healthcare workers alike.

q Members taking part in the 2026 New York City Pride March on June 7.

Charities. It has since changed ownership, and Agnes feels that conditions for residents are worse post-sale. “Nursing homes owners need to pay more attention to the patients than their money,” she shares.

After the meeting, Agnes felt the MHCC had listened closely, and taken workers’ concerns seriously.

“They need to know, because they aren’t in the facility with us. They can [only] go by what we tell them.”

And while she's grateful that MHCC’s new rule will improve conditions for workers, she is primarily concerned for the residents, because, as she says, “we get to go home—they don’t get to.”

Because 1199 members spoke movingly about how poor conditions at work impact both their jobs and patients’ health and safety, Maryland made a policy change that will benefit union and nonunion healthcare workers alike.

Maryland long term care members’ next target will be convincing the state to maintain requirements for nursing home spending and staffing ratios, regardless of whether a facility was recently acquired.

NEW YORK

Proud.

Loud.

Unstoppable.

Under the banner “Unions are for All of Us” 1199 members marched in Buffalo, New York on June 7, while in NYC, members joined with more than a million revelers on June 28 in what is the largest Pride celebration in the country. On July 18, 1199ers in Rochester turned out again for that city’s storied parade.

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June-September 2026

Florida Maryland Massachusetts New Jersey New York Washington, D.C.

t 1199ers in Rochester New York celebrating Juneteenth. x Michael O’Connor (r) builds support in the community.

UPSTATE NEW YORK

Commemorating Juneteenth

More than 100 members walked together at the 50th Annual Juneteenth parade in Buffalo, NY, on June 13 and enjoyed the post parade cookout at MLK Park. “It's been going on for 50 years and it's important to let people know that we can come together. We all can be part of one another,” said Earlisa

Stroye, 1199SEIU member at Buffalo General Medical Center.

Members also celebrated freedom and strength together at the 2026 Juneteenth celebrations in Rochester, NY, which took place on June 20, centered at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park under the theme “Beloved Community”.

NEW YORK

Assist Ambulance members settle first contract Members at Assist Ambulance in New York City settled their first contract on July 16. The agreement will run from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029.

The deal includes annual across-the-board wage increases of 5 per cent. Health insurance premium costs split equally between members and the employer, who will also provide a matching 401k contribution. All members will receive an extra day off during their birthday month.

Members also negotiated

a grievance procedure and the right to union representation to handle workplace disputes.

Protections against management making unilateral changes to the conditions of their employment were written into the agreement.

Michael O’Connor, an 1199 EMT on the bargaining committee said: “The strongest trees were once only seeds–planted with hope, strengthened with time, and destined to grow. We were the seeds. We are becoming the trees.

We are the Union.”

“The strongest trees were once only seeds–planted with hope, strengthened with time, and destined to grow. We were the seeds. We are becoming the trees. We are the Union.”

— Michael O’Connor, 1199 EMT 1199 Magazine

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Around the Regions

MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts PCAs win wage increases and Health Insurance Fund

“This contract is a testament to our power in 1199 to win when the odds are against us” — Amanda Taveras, 1199 PCA

After months of bargaining with the PCA Workforce Council and the state government, more than 60,000 members in Massachusetts settled a two-year contract on July 16. 1199ers won bonuses ranging from $400$1000 for all PCAs who complete the New Hire Orientation (NHO).

In 2027, those who complete the orientation will receive an additional $1 raise across the wage scale.

Massachusetts Governor, Maura Healey, also agreed to contribute $7 million per year to a Health Insurance Fund for PCAs who meet eligibility requirements.

Amanda Taveras, an 1199 PCA on the bargaining committee said: “Este contrato es un testimonio del poder que tenemos en 1199 para ganar, incluso cuando las probabilidades son muy pocas.

(This contract is a testament to our power in 1199 to win when the odds are against us.)

Members also won agreement to implement a Retirement Savings Account by the end of this year or figure out a new model for retirement security. Either way, negotiations will start in 2027 for an employer match.

Rosa Rivera, another 1199 PCA said: “Estoy esperando con entusiasmo mi jubilación y ahora podré ahorrar para ella. Además, estoy lista para obtener una contribución del empleador en 2027. (I am looking forward to retirement in the next few years and now I will be able to save for it.

Plus, I’m ready to win an employer match in 2027).”

Negotiations also yielded a $1,000 Training Stipend as well as job security for immigrant workers, including a return to work with no loss of seniority.

t Massachusetts members rally at their state capital in Boston.

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June-September 2026

NEW YORK

Puerto Rican Day Parade Beret Otero, a Health Care Assistant at the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, came all the way down from Boston, Massachusetts to celebrate with fellow 1199ers in New York City at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 14.

Said Otero: “I’m here at the national Puerto Rican Day Parade here in New York City with my kids because I just finished up, with my co-workers, bargaining our second contract. We’re about to vote to ratify. So, I wanted to interact with other Union members [around the country] by getting involved with 1199 events. What a great way to celebrate!”

On August 1, in Rochester, NY, 1199ers and SEIU Local 200United celebrated together at the city’s Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, while in Buffalo, NY, on August 15, members joined the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Day parade.

NEW YORK

 1199ers displaying their Borinquen pride on June 14.  NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani joins Marielys Delarosa, an 1199 Medical Assistant at NYU Langone Brooklyn at the Dominican Day Parade.

Dominican Day Parade 1199ers brought their fire energy to the 2026 Dominican Day Parade in New York City on August 9. NYC Mayor joined the contingent and celebrated Dominican culture and heritage with our Union family.

1199 Magazine

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THE WORK WE DO

Cooperative Home Care Associates

Founded just over forty years ago in the South Bronx, the licensed home care agency known as Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) has an unusual business model. From the outset it has been worker owned and in 2012 it earned a B Corp certification, making a public commitment to consider the impact its decisions have on its workforce, clients, community, collaborators, and the environment. Now employing 1,600 caregivers, it is the only B Corp certified home care agency in New York. 1199 Magazine caught up with a few of its memberowners to find out what working there means to them.

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June-September 2026

1. Noemi Rodriguez, who has been a member of Cooperative Home Care Associates for 26 years, decided to become an 1199 Delegate to represent her fellow workers.

“When I started back in 2000, we were earning $6.80 an hour,” she said “Now we are earning $19.86. Those increases didn’t happen overnight. They came about because many of us traveled up to Albany and down to Washington DC to press our elected representatives to fund a fair wage and improve our conditions, like making sure we had family leave, for example.”

She also represents Cooperative members directly. For example, when 1199ers noticed the government telephone application they were using to log hours was defective, they reached out to Rodriguez. Workers had to go in person to the agency to reclaim wages for the hours they were unable to log into the system. By working with the Union, members were able to resolve the issue.

“Because Cooperative is an agency where the workers are the owners, we have a lot of flexibility,” said Rodriguez, adding: “We are also part of the community, and so we are able to negotiate discounts with stores like Costco and BJs, as well as relationships with banks like Chase and a municipal credit union for ourselves.”

Rodriguez plans to get politically active this fall with the 1199 Weekend Warrior program to turn things around at the national level.

“We know that the government has cut $1 trillion from the federal

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Medicaid budget to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy,” she said.

“New York Governor Kathy Hochul helped us by filling some of that gap with state funds. But we’re going to have to campaign hard to make sure we get new representatives in Washington to overturn these cuts. So, I plan to get on the bus with 1199 Weekend Warriors every Saturday, come September.”

2. As one of the longest serving members at Cooperative Home Care Associates, Zaida Ramos remembers being told how it all began. In 1985, the nuns at the Inmaculada Concepcion church, located near the Hub in the South Bronx, worked with about 18 home care workers to form an agency that would provide dignified jobs for low-income women in the community.

More than 40 years later, Cooperative remains a worker cooperative with all the home care workers receiving regular dividend checks.

“I started with Cooperative in 1998. I live in East Harlem, but I work in the Bronx,” said Ramos.

“Now it has grown into one of the

largest workers’ cooperatives in the country, employing more than 1,600 caregivers and staff. It costs $1,000 for each new worker to join our cooperative, but you can pay that off at the rate of $3.55 per week, so it is manageable.

“I work 32 hours a week between two clients and I’m also an 1199 Delegate and political activist.

Some people have been saying that home care workers don’t provide quality health care to our clients.

They don’t realize that what we do for our patients, like making sure they eat and get some exercise, is very important for their health. We take them to doctors’ appointments and if they are bed-ridden we make sure they are turned every couple of hours to prevent bed sores. If they are incontinent, we make sure they are clean and dry. People need to realize that what we do is important too. Dr Oz [referring to Dr Mehmet Oz, who runs the federal Medicaid agency] is rich, just like the president is rich. They don’t care about us,” added Ramos.

She believes that the Republican majority in power in Washington DC right now only cares about multiplying their

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wealth. “The president has become richer and richer while he’s been in office. We have to do all we can to elect decent people that understand the importance of what we do as home care workers and who will work to restore Medicaid funding,” said Ramos.

She is also angry about what is happening to her immigrant neighbors. “[The government] has removed immigration status from Haitian people who have done nothing wrong while living in this country. Immigrants are the people who do the work in the fields, which gives us fresh tomatoes in the supermarkets. And much of home health care is also done by immigrants. I’m Puerto Rican and I came here in 1970. My father served this country in World War II,” said Ramos.

“Here in New York City, things are different,” she added, pointing out that Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made sure that rent increases were frozen [for people living in rent stabilized apartments]. One of my fellow 1199 home care members benefited from this. “She was just telling me the other day about how happy she was,” said Ramos.

“It costs $1,000 for each new worker to join our cooperative, but you can pay that off at the rate of $3.55 per week, so it is manageable.”

— Zaida Ramos

1199 Magazine

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THE WORK WE DO “You have to put yourself in your client’s shoes and treat them how you would you like to be treated.”

— Angella Russell 12

Cooperative Home Care Associates

3. “My daughter works for the NYC Department of Health, and she encouraged me to come to the US after Hurricane Maria caused so much damage back home,” said Maura Gerard who emigrated in 2018. Before that, in the US Virgin Islands, “I used to take care of my grandfather, but when he got sick and passed away, I was all alone.”

She joined Cooperative and became an 1199 Delegate soon after she arrived. “I like working in home care because you are working just with your client in their home and you have more freedom.

“Part of being an 1199 Delegate is getting involved in political action,” said Gerard. “I’ve been out canvassing for [US Congressman] Pat Ryan, in Poughkeepsie, NY. In other elections I went door knocking in Philadelphia for Kamala Harris and also for NYS Governor Kathy Hochul.

“Coming from the Caribbean, getting involved in politics here has been eye-opening. It helps me learn how to get along with different kinds of people and to do something positive in my free time.”

Gerard works 30 hours a week with Cooperative and is also involved with Rainbow Connections, which helps with housing and welfare rights for the LGBTQ community—especially those who have lost benefits because of the “Big, Ugly Bill” [federal legislation which drastically cut Medicaid dollars to fund tax cuts for the ultra-rich]. ‘I’m not gay, but I’m an ally,” said Gerard.

The Medicaid cuts are affecting Cooperative members too.

“Because we all have a share of the company we used to get dividend checks, which could be as much as $1,900. But we’re getting them less often now.

“I’m looking forward to getting involved in the midterm campaign and knocking on people’s doors and making sure they understand their rights. It’s so important to talk to people and give them a little hope.”

June-September 2026

4. It was just before the pandemic in 2019 when Angella Russell joined Cooperative. “I used to walk around with bleach and Lysol and plastic bags on my shoes to go to my client. She had nobody else to help her. When she fell down in her apartment, she was all alone on the floor all weekend until I came back on Monday morning,” said Russell.

“I had to call the super to get into the apartment. She was very dehydrated and hungry so we called 911, I stayed with her for two hours after my shift to make sure she was all right. But she was diabetic and she passed away later in a rehab facility. I had to take a break from work after she died. She was like family to me.”

Now Russell has another client who has dementia and no family to visit her. “So, I protect her. People in her building are constantly trying to trick her and steal her money. Someone stole her Medicaid card and I had to block it after I came back from vacation,” said Russell.

“You have to put yourself in your client’s shoes and treat them how

you would you like to be treated.”

Russell became a Delegate because she wanted to stand up for not just herself, but other staff who are not being treated fairly. “I enjoy fighting for my rights and benefits,” she said. “For example, I help make sure members are paid for their travel time.”

She also lets members know about 1199SEIU benefits and uses them herself. Russell is currently studying for her GED and is considering training to become a Respiratory Therapist, using those benefits. “I’m originally from Jamaica and I became a US citizen last March, after attending the 1199 Citizenship program,” she said.

Russell recognizes that none of the benefits nor wage increases have come without a fight and she’s traveled to Albany many times to lobby NYS lawmakers around Medicaid funding. She also participated in the 2024 election.

“These federal cuts are affecting everyone, even union members,” said Russell, who plans to stay active as the midterm campaign approaches.

OUR UNION

Every Conversation

Matters Florida members are organizing an unstoppable force to advance the proud history of winning worker power in the Sunshine State.

Expanding the union movement in Florida is not easy. 1199 Delegates there face more challenges than most. Many workers lack key protections, and our Union has few allies in Tallahassee, the state capital.

But Florida Union leaders are not letting these obstacles stand in their way. If anything, they’re more determined than ever to find creative ways to build worker power and demonstrate how to make what seems impossible, possible.

In August, the Florida division launched a “blitz” aimed at recruiting hundreds of new dues-paying members, developing new leaders amongst the existing membership and identifying new contributors to the 1199SEIU Political Action Fund, known as PAC. Elizabeth Jazon, an 1199 Delegate and RN at UHealth Tower University of Miami hospital for 18 years, is one of the seasoned leaders who is actively mentoring the new generation of Union activists.

“One of the things I always say to new Delegates is don’t be afraid.

You have power when you are in the right,” she said. Jazon encourages newer Delegates to join her when she speaks with management to help build their confidence.

For example, while Jazon was out on leave recently, a supervisor on her unit tried to impose a new vacation scheduling practice. “They were trying to require union employees who were contracted to work three days a week to request five vacation days, if they wanted to be released for a full week from the schedule,” she explained, “I went to HR and reminded them that any changes to holiday arrangements need to be negotiated with our Union. The manager had to back down and we returned to the

way we had always done it.”

The recent victory of Angie Nixon in the Democratic primary for US Senate on August 18 was a huge boost for worker power, especially when she was heavily outspent by her opponent, acknowledged Jazon.

“I just sent her a message to congratulate her. But we have a lot of work to do before November. The leaders we elect make a world of difference. They can help us or they can destroy us,” she said.

Sarah Chrisofferson, an 1199 Delegate and RN at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida was also buoyed up by the Nixon win. Having met the candidate at the 1199 Delegate’s Assembly in New York, she could tell she was the “real deal”.

“She is not trying to climb the ladder and get status. She is trying to effect positive change for working people.

“She’s a real Floridian – from Jacksonville,” said Christofferson, “She’s one of us. It’s clear that she supports healthcare workers who provide real care in Florida. We know it will take a lot of work for Nixon to win in November, and I’m already talking to my co-workers about her.

“I know my audience and it is about a 50-50 split on my unit. There are some people’s minds I won’t be able to change. Just spreading the word is important, though. I know about Nixon because of the Union.

But a lot of people are just hearing about her now.”

“Don’t be afraid. You have power when you are in the right.”

— Elizabeth Jazon, 1199 Delegate and RN at UHealth Tower University of Miami hospital  Janice Youngs, an 1199 CNA (far right) next to Angie Nixon, Democratic nominee for US Senate at HCA West contract rally with two 1199 officers.

involved in the Union. She joined 1199 three years ago after another Delegate helped her to understand that our Union was not simply there to help members who were in trouble with management or human resources.

“Now, when I’m doing new member orientation as a Delegate, I like to share real life experiences of situations where our Union was vital to them in making sure that management did the right thing instead of brushing things under the rug.

“Recently, there was a Clinical Nurse Coordinator on our unit, who was not a member since she was considered management. She had a temporary disability, which meant she was assigned to light duties.

She wanted to take over the work of our Unit Secretary, who was a member, and make him float to another unit instead of her because she didn’t want to work there,” said Kane, adding that with her help, the member was able to reverse the situation and was no longer required to float out. “The whole experience helped him to see the value of speaking out and being involved of our Union.”

Some of the newer Delegates like Teka Kane, a PCT at HCA West near Tampa since 2012, can relate to the initial reluctance many of her co-workers feel to become 1199 Magazine

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POLITICS

OUR VOTE OUR POWER

1199 member leaders are mobilizing a political movement to reclaim and expand the rights of working people.

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June-September 2026

On the campaign trail, ahead of the 2024 elections, we heard a lot about how prices were too high and that ordinary people deserved a break.

But since the Trump administration took over, with control of both houses of Congress, the price of gas and grocery staples like beef have gone up even further and healthcare costs have dramatically increased for many people – while the billionaire class has been laughing all the way to the bank.

It’s time for working people to take back power. And 1199ers are ready to do what it takes to do just that. With the midterm elections now just around the corner, the electoral stakes could not be higher when it comes to the future of health care in this country. That’s why in the run up to the November 3 vote, the Union has launched one of its most comprehensive political programs yet.

When members surged into action to help elect President Obama back in 2008, his administration ushered in the Affordable Care Act, which dramatically reduced the number of Americans without health insurance. Now 1199ers are answering the call to mobilize once again.

Last summer, the Republican extremists passed the "Big Ugly Bill" by just three votes in the House of Representatives and only one in the Senate. The legislation shifted $1 trillion away from healthcare spending over the next 10 years in order to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.

It also included draconian and cruel immigration enforcement measures. The bill has already lead to service cutbacks and closures at hospitals and clinics. Now, that same administration is seeking to

cut billions more from health care to pay for an illadvised war in Iran.

“I am a healthcare voter, and I say hands off healthcare cuts. People don’t realize what is coming. A trillion-ton freight train is about to crash into our healthcare system causing severe cuts and casualties to hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics where we have already seen closures. Safety net programs designed to protect and help care for our most vulnerable patients including people who are poor, elderly, young, disabled, veterans, immigrants, mentally ill, addicted, and homeless will be destroyed,” said Kim Utech, an 1199 Delegate and Nurse Practitioner at the Children’s Hospital of Buffalo in Western New York.

A Manhattan Delegate, Traemani Taylor, a Medical Secretary at NYU hospital’s Fink center said, “I was raised in a Trinidadian household that stood on principles, morals, values, and respect. As an African American woman, I have always stood on fairness and equality. I am proud to be the third generation in my family to be part of such a great union—1199. We can't complain and expect things to change just because we feel a certain way about something. We must be part of the change and set an example for others to follow.”

In Maryland, emergency rooms have the longest ER waiting times in the country, while the number of ER visits per resident is among the lowest in the country. Inadequate staffing is the main reason for these long wait times. That’s why 1199ers in Maryland fought a years-long battle

that culminated in the Safe Staffing Act of 2026 – mandating the creation of a committee of workers to discuss staffing levels at every private hospital in the state Nina Scroggins, an 1199 Delegate and Cook at Greater Baltimore Medical Center said: “I realized that the way I was working, we were always shortstaffed. A lot of people were getting hurt trying to do multiple jobs, and people were calling out a lot because they were exhausted. I personally was injured while helping out a coworker in patient services. My shift was over, and I saw that she looked overwhelmed because there weren’t enough people to help her. I started passing her plates from a machine that I didn’t realize was on and I got second degree burns. So, it’s clear to me that short staffing hurts everyone.”

The political hill that 1199ers have to climb during this election season is one of the steepest in recent memory. The Supreme Court, packed with right-wing appointees, has not only allowed the Trump administration to end legal status for 1.3 million hardworking immigrants, but also to gut the provisions of the Voting Rights Act. “They’re trying to take us back, but we’re not going back,” Veronica Turner-Biggs, 1199SEIU Secretary Treasurer, told the unionwide Delegates Assembly in Midtown Manhattan on July 27, adding, “Our ancestors fought hard so that we could have the right to vote. [Those in power] are trying to intimidate us, so we don’t show up at the polls. But we’re not scared, because we’re never scared.

“A trillion-ton freight train is about to crash into our healthcare system causing severe cuts and casualties to hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics.”

— Kim Utech, 1199 Delegate and Nurse Practitioner

p Angie Nixon, Florida’s Democratic nominee for US Senator attends 1199 Delegate Assembly in NYC. Bottom: Members feeling their power.

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“My parents are barely scraping by on a fixed income and Social Security, which is under threat. Nobody wants their loved ones to be financially insecure.”

— Sarah Chrisofferson, 1199 Delegate and RN

A group of 1,000 Union political activists has already begun conducting voter registration drives, mobilizing voters and working on strategies to protect the election. Throughout September and October, at least 2,000 Union volunteers will bring their strength to the battleground districts through phone-banking nights and Weekend Warrior door-knocking blitzes.

Are you ready to take back power in the midterm elections? Get involved by stepping up to become a:

There is not another single organization that can do what our organization does.”

Sarah Chrisofferson, an 1199 Delegate and RN at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, said she was so glad that Angie Nixon won her Democratic Primary for the US Senate race on August 18. “I met her at the 1199 Delegates Assembly in New York and she’s one of us and she really cares about health care. She’s from Jacksonville – from the streets. Her win gives us hope and helps us to see what can actually be done. She still has to win in November, though. So, I keep having conversations with people both at work and at my local Kava bar.

“We have to find a way to stop squabbling over red versus blue and find common ground. My parents are barely scraping by on a fixed income and Social Security, which is under threat. Nobody wants their loved ones to 16

June-September 2026

be financially insecure.”

A home care Delegate from New York City, Lilieth Clacken added, “Back in Jamaica, where I grew up, I was a political activist for many years.

Sometimes it feels like three steps forward and two steps backward. But it’s the wins we achieve that keep me in the fight.”

Clacken works for the RegionCare Nursing Agency (Northwell) and lives in Queens. In 2024, she traveled to Long Island to canvass successfully for Democratic House Representatives Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen. She said, “We might not agree with everything they stand for, but so much of what we need as working people depends on having a majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Congressional Districts 3 and 4 on Long Island are key battleground districts that we have to hold onto this November.”

p 1199ers surrounding Secretary Treasurer Veronica TurnerBiggs (left) and President Yvonne Armstrong. (right) Bottom: The Florida members Purple Voices choir performing.

• Shop Political Captain Help inform and recruit fellow members in the shop to vote and volunteer in the November elections.

Organize information tables and other outreach at your workplace.

• Neighborhood Captain Bring together 1199 members with other union or community members in the local neighborhood or church.

Reach out to a list of members in the community to learn their views on the candidates and election.

• Poll watcher Connect with an election protection group and attend an additional training on what it means to be a poll watcher. Commit to specific shifts at your local poll site.

Scan here to find out more.

OUR UNION

Upholding

the Gold Standard Nearly 400 members bargained around-the-clock to secure the Union’s master contract which covers 86,000 healthcare workers in the New York metropolitan area.

It was not until 5.30 in the morning that all the behind-the-scenes work in the shops and the painstaking round-theclock bargaining came together to reach a standard-setting agreement on June 30.

That was the moment when the 1199 bargaining committee of nearly 400 rankand-filers, representing 86,000 fellow members at 90 locations won 4 per cent annual increases and secured industryleading benefits for Union healthcare workers at the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes.

The early morning handshake between 1199SEIU President Yvonne Armstrong and the League President, Marc Kramer was the culmination of countless conversations between Delegates and members in the institutions, weeks of actions in the shops including “marches on the boss,” sticker days and the signing and delivery of poster-sized “Medigram” petitions, and a high-energy rally with thousands of members in downtown Manhattan that attracted many of New York’s most high-profile elected officials.

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“We didn’t let management divide us.

We are one union.”

— Diane McClary-Nichols, a Senior Secretary at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx

All this was achieved three months before the contract expired, so that the most powerful movement of union members in the country could turn its collective attention to tipping the balance of power back towards working people nationally. (see pgs 14-16) “In the morning when we realized that we got an amazing contract, I felt elated. I felt like a load was lifted off my shoulders and I had the power to go back into the shops and say guys; this is what we got for you all. We Won,” said Allison Jumett, an 1199 Delegate and Respiratory Therapist at Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital in Brooklyn, “Service and clerical had a voice. Nursing had a voice. Protech had a voice.”

Ngomo Ekokobe, an 1199 Delegate and Pharmacy Specialist at Montefiore Hospital – Moses Campus in the Bronx said: “In this political environment, the fact that we were able to secure a wage increase alone is wild.”

The League agreement is the pinnacle contract for healthcare workers in the United States and the biggest bargaining unit within 1199SEIU, the nation’s largest healthcare union. The three-year deal guarantees workers their industry-leading health insurance (with zero premiums, deductibles, and co-pays), secures their excellent defined-benefit pension plan, among several other gains.

“At a time when Washington, DC, is making unprecedented cuts to healthcare funding, this contract is a huge win for caregivers who are the bedrock of our healthcare system and essential to maintaining standards for high-quality patient care,” said 1199SEIU

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June-September 2026

President Yvonne Armstrong.

Scheena Tannis, an 1199 Delegate and Critical Care RN at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn said the contract also included the first substantial movement towards parity for 1199 RNs in more than 20 years. A specific fund was set up to address RN local issues, whether they be shift differentials, longevity increases, safe staffing or anything else that is an obstacle to protecting patient safety.

“This contract finally creates space for 1199 nurses to begin to rectify longstanding inequities in compensation,” said Tannis.

Diane McClary-Nichols, an 1199 Delegate and Senior Secretary at Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus in the Bronx, said: “We didn’t let management divide us. We are one union. We remembered that we got substantial increases last time because the 1199 Nurses did not leave us behind.

Management tried to cut a deal. We said one union. It is all or nothing.”

This League agreement also increases funding to enhance members’ childcare benefits, protects the Job Security and Training Fund which allows 1199SEIU members to gain new skills to advance their careers in healthcare, grants layoff protections for members with more than 10 years of service, and establishes a committee to review the impact of AI in healthcare.

Calvin Elliott, a veteran 1199 Delegate and Window Washer in the Environmental Services Department at Northwell South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, Long Island said: “Looking at what we’re facing down the line [in terms of Medicaid cuts], I think it was a

 League members celebrating their contract victory at the Javits Center.

Previous page: Scheena Tannis, 1199 Critical Care RN at Brookdale Brookdale Medical Center speaking at the Lower Manhattan rally on June 17.

wonderful contract. When we went back to the shops, people were thanking us for fighting so hard at the table to get a fair contract without having to strike.”

He highlighted the additional $5 million annually towards the Child Care Fund to improve member benefits, and the $2 million Legal Defense Fund. “That will really help our Haitian brothers and sisters,” added Elliott.

Yolanda Delgado, an 1199 Delegate and Occupational Therapist at the Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Manhattan, said: “Este fue una pelea que tuvimos que ganar. Sabemos que hubo muchas dificultades. Nuestras familias dependen en nuestros beneficios. No podemos que pagar ningunas tarifas extra. (This is a fight we had to win. We know there were many difficulties. Our families depend on our benefits, and we cannot afford to pay any extra copays.)”

Ikimi Scott, an 1199 Delegate and Therapeutic Recreation Leader at the Silvercrest Extended Care facility in Queens, spoke about the importance of the June 17 rally in Foley Square, attended by thousands of members.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed the crowd along with several other political champions.

“I told members, if you want percentage increases and improved benefits, I need you to show up. You can’t say you want those things and not show up for a few hours. Numbers are power. If [management] sees us showing up in numbers then they are going to be afraid. And they’re not going to want us to strike. The whole goal was to show up now, so that we didn’t have to strike.”

OUR UNION

Raising the Standards New York Nursing Home Members came together to protect Union jobs and improve recruitment and retention.

Over 30,000 members working across hundreds of nursing homes in downstate New York achieved major contract victories on August 17. For just the second time, members who are part of “Greater NY” nursing homes and the “Group” nursing homes joined together at a single bargaining table, combining their power to defend and raise standards for nursing home jobs across the region.

They were met with an aggressive bargaining posture from management, who came to the table with unacceptable demands including wanting the right to hire up to 20 agency and “no-frills” workers at each nursing home. Bargaining committee members like Mary Samaroo, an LPN at Queens Nassau Nursing and Rehab, saw this as a direct threat to members jobs, the integrity of the union, and standards for quality care, and pushed back hard. “With lots of agency in a nursing home, there is no accountability. They find the workload is too much and they leave. Our residents need dedicated, permanent staff to care for them—after all, this is their home, and we are their family. That’s why we had to draw a line in the sand.”

with highlights including 4 per cent annual wage increases, the protection of our industry-leading benefits, and the creation of an immigration legal defense fund for nursing home members.

Simone Thomas-Linton, a CNA at White Plains Center and a first-time

q Nursing Home members at the negotiating table.

bargaining committee member, said: “It was exciting. It was enlightening and eye-opening. Going into negotiations for the first time, I did not fully understand what it would entail. We had to stand our ground and fight for what we believe in.

What I learned is that a union contract is never given—it is fought for and won by us, the members.”

Thousands of members took action in their shops to fight back against management’s intolerable proposals, including signing hundreds of large poster-sized petitions and holding “marches on the boss” to deliver them.

With members’ unity apparent, the Employers caved and agreed to a contract meeting our core demands.

The agreement maintains parity with the NY League hospital contract,

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OUR UNION

A Seat at the Table Hundreds of new members were welcomed into the Union family this summer.

More than 800 healthcare workers from northern Massachusetts and Upstate New York voted to form a union with 1199SEIU in a single day this July.

At Merrimack Health Lawrence Hospital near Andover, MA, about 500 workers, including nurse aides, phlebotomists, housekeepers, transport workers, pharmacy techs and radiology aides joined the Union on July 22.

On the same day, another 313 RNs at Guthrie Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, NY became the second group of 1199 members in

the Guthrie system.

At Lawrence Hospital, Judith Jimenez, a Nursing Assistant, explained why she voted to unionize: “Con una unión, por fin podemos hacer realidad nuestros sueños y construir un futuro mejor para nosotros. (With a union, we can finally make our dreams come true and build a better future for ourselves.)”

Tara Benjamin, a Lead Phlebotomist at the hospital said, “Together, we made our voices heard, and together we won. This victory belongs to every member

q Newlyorganized RNs at Guthrie Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, NY.

who stood up, voted and believed in the power of unity.”

At Guthrie Lourdes in Binghamton, the RNs who came into the Union will be joining fellow 1199 members at Guthrie Corning Hospital, located approximately 70 miles west, also in New York’s Southern Tier.

New member RN Katie Thepsombat explained the importance of the vote: “Have you ever heard of nurses working without holiday pay? Health insurance, charge pay, and staffing levels all need serious improvement too. We’ve all waited long enough for Guthrie to make it happen.

Change isn’t coming without us having a seat at the table.”

Another RN, Caroline Howells, who works in the PACU, added, “Staffing ratios are getting cut, holiday pay was taken away, and management is trying to make us forget it with a temporary change of tone. But we see through it since things have been going in the wrong direction for too long. Taking our future into our own hands is a step in the right direction.”

“Nurses need a real say in how our hospital is run, down to how and where resources are allocated,” said Candice Mozes, an RN in the hospital’s ICU. “Forming our union means that we will be partners in decision-making with hospital management. When our voices are heard and we

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June-September 2026

“We are a big family. We care for each other, we love each other. We need to join 1199 as one voice to fight for what is right— better wages, better communication, better equipment to take care of the residents we love.”

— Nirva Louis, an LPN at the newly organized Complete Care at Madison nursing home in New Jersey.

have the tools we need to do the job, patients will receive more appropriate care.”

Just one week after these two new bargaining units joined the Union family, more than 80 New Jersey nursing home workers at Complete Care at Madison in Old Bridge voted overwhelmingly to unionize on July 30. Their victory was the culmination of months of organizing after workers at the facility reached out to 1199 for guidance on forming a union.

Nirva Louis, an LPN, is the leader who got the campaign started.

As she explained, “We are a big family. We care for each other, we love each other. We need to join 1199 as one voice to fight for what is right—better wages, better communication, better equipment to take care of the residents we love.”

A range of issues motivated the union drive, including lack of regular wage increases, expensive and insufficient benefits, and short staffing. “I’ve been cooking from 6AM to 7PM all week, I’m the only full time cook here.

Something needs to be done about staffing, that’s why I’m voting for the union,” explained Michael Pamplin, who also stressed concerns about excessive heat in the kitchen as another issue that needs to be resolved now that they have a union voice.

Across departments—nursing, housekeeping, dietary, and more— support for the union was nearly unanimous.

p Top: Marrimack Health Lawrence Hospital in MA celebrating joining 1199.

Bottom: New members from Complete Care in NJ join the Union family.

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OUR HISTORY

GEORGE GRESHAM AN APPRECIATION The former 1199 President was a lifelong social justice champion.

George Gresham, who led 1199SEIU from 2007 to 2025, passed away on May 8 after a long illness. He was 71. In his last run for the presidency in 2025, he was defeated by then Senior Executive Vice President, Yvonne Armstrong.

Under Gresham’s leadership, 1199SEIU expanded the dramatic growth and prominence it had achieved under President Dennis Rivera, who led the Union from 1989 to 2007.

Born in 1955, Gresham spent the first eight years of his life in Virginia, the Civil War capital of the Confederacy.

“My daily life was surrounded by symbols of segregation,” he recalled in his 1199 magazine column shortly after he was elected president. “Public buildings, monuments, schools, parks, streets throughout the state honored Confederate leaders who fought to keep my forebears in slavery.”

At age eight, Gresham joined his parents in New York, both of whom had come North earlier to find work.

The family settled in the Bronx and Gresham developed into a star fullback at DeWitt Clinton High School. He is among dozens of renowned Clinton graduates, including one of his mentors, the late Basil Paterson, a former NYS Senator, Secretary of State and prominent labor lawyer.

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June-September 2026

“I’ve witnessed the aches and pains and sheer exhaustion in my mother’s posture and in her eyes as she prepared the family’s dinner after a hard day’s work as a home care worker.”

— George Gresham

As a high school senior, Gresham was offered a football scholarship to Michigan State University, but he gave up the sport when doctors discovered a tumor in his left arm. Two years later, Gresham took a job in the housekeeping department of Manhattan’s Presbyterian Hospital.

Through 1199’s Training and Upgrading Fund he was able to attend college tuition free and with a $150 weekly stipend. His advancement to radiology technician doubled his former salary. His appreciation for the Union and his involvement within it soared. The former janitor rose rapidly through the ranks – Delegate, Organizer, VP, Executive VP, Secretary-Treasurer and President.

Under Gresham, the leadership team and a united and active membership, 1199 continued its rapid growth and its record of winning increased wages and unrivaled benefits for members and their families.

The Union also leveraged its political strength to elect pro-worker candidates and help advance progressive legislation within its districts and beyond.

Among the Union’s earliest accomplishments during Gresham’s tenure was its mobilization of thousands of members to help elect Senator Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president.

Mass mobilizations of members weren’t confined to political and electoral campaigns. A Gresham hallmark was his linking of civil rights to economic justice. He wrote in one of his first 1199 magazine columns, “Full democracy and social and economic equality are indivisible from racial equality.”

His writings, speeches and entire body of work helped to build bridges among progressive movements.

For example, Gresham and the 1199 Executive Council passed a resolution in 2011 to support Occupy Wall Street, the movement that shined a light on economic inequality and a system that permits the corporate oligarchy – the 1 percent – to control the nation’s wealth and undermine social progress.

“Occupy” helped spark the Fight For $15 minimum wage movement, which 1199 and its members helped to lead and secure victories in all states where the Union operates—except Florida, which is due to reach that goal on September 30 of this year.

For Gresham, the plight of low-paid home care workers was personal. He said, “I‘ve witnessed the aches and pains and sheer exhaustion in my mother’s posture and in her eyes as she prepared the family’s dinner after a hard day’s toil as a home care worker.”

Before he was slowed by his illnesses, Gresham was regularly found in the front row of civil rights marches arm and arm with national leaders. Among those actions was a June 17, 2012, NYC Father’s Day March of thousands to protest the Police Department’s stop and frisk policy. At its height, the march stretched for 30 city blocks.

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“Because George chose to fight, generations of working families will live with greater dignity, opportunity and security.”

— April Verrett, SEIU President

 George Gresham addresses a rally in Washington DC in 2010.  Settling a contract with the League.  Protesting the killing of George Floyd with 1199ers in Upper Manhattan at the height of the COVID pandemic.

One year later, Gresham led a delegation of some 3,000 members to Washington to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the occasion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech.

Gresham frequently quoted Dr. King, who called 1199 his favorite union. “We in 1199SEIU don’t recall our relationship to Dr. King simply to boast,” Gresham wrote.

"On the contrary, his words to us and about us are both a commendation and a challenge.”

Like Dr. King, 1199 and Gresham championed peace and railed against a bloated wasteful military budget while funds for human needs are denied.

As a healthcare union, “1199 has a special responsibility to protect our environment and combat climate change,” Gresham insisted.

He and the 1199 leadership were early supporters of marriage equality. This was also true of women’s rights and the fight for equal pay. Gresham wrote in the Amsterdam News: “The best way for us all to show solidarity with our sisters is to continue to organize and fight, meanwhile declaring loudly and clearly that women’s inequality is not a women’s problem. It is ours” Under Gresham’s leadership, 1199 remained on the frontlines of the fight for immigrant rights. He said, “It is in the interest of all working people and our country as a whole. We must tear down the walls of separation that are no more than shackles in disguise.”

Gresham’s death drew eulogies from leaders and organizations across the country. Flags at NY state and city buildings were ordered flown at half-mast on the day of his funeral.

SEIU Pres. April Verrett said of Gresham, “Because George chose to fight, generations of working families will live with greater dignity, opportunity and security.”

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Nursing home members who work at the “Group” and “Greater NY” homes in downstate New York celebrate settling a contract which will see their pay increase by 12 per cent over the course of the three year contract. See page 19.