3 Member Editorial Jacquelyn Wheeler lays out the challenges and rewards of stepping up as a Union Delegate in West Palm Beach, Florida.
4 Organizing Planned Parenthood Maryland Planned Parenthood clinics join 1199, uniting with fellow members in New York and Massachusetts.
5 The President’s Column No Time for Business as Usual.
6 Around the Regions Canvassing for Sherrill in New Jersey; Baltimore members win 14 percent; NYC Brides March; Rochester Family Fun Day; Political Action Contribution Sweepstakes; Members are vaccinating their community.
8 Immigrants Enrich America
Ethnic diversity is what makes our Union and our country what it is— a powerful and vibrant mix of the best cultural traditions in the world.
13 The Work We Do
If it is anything more than the most routine outpatient visit, patients will likely encounter an 1199 Patient Transport team member at Mount Sinai Morningside.
16 Restoring Union Democracy
Our newly elected leadership is hitting the road to listen, learn, and lead together.
18 Another World is Possible Mamdani makes his case to 1199ers in NYC to win their votes on November 4.
20 Upstate Members Win 28 percent Nursing home members at 25 facilities in Western New York win landmark wage increases following coordinated strike action.
22 Our History How the Occupy Wall Street movement focused attention on the centrality of economic inequality.
Cover: Members from St Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx taking part in a question-and-answer session with NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani on September 24.
Being bold
Jacquelyn Wheeler—an 1199 PCT at an HCA hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida—lays out the challenges and rewards of stepping up as a Union Delegate.
My co-workers call me the inhouse lawyer because they know I’m always going to represent their side of the story to management. I remind them that I am a worker just like they are. I don’t get paid any extra for being a Union Delegate. Last month alone, I think I had three grievances a week and it got kind of hectic.
Sometimes I’ve even had to put my own job on the line to support a fellow member. As a PCT in the hospital since 2021, I had been taking hour-long lunch breaks along with my co-workers. Then the hospital began viewing their security camera footage and monitoring people’s breaks.
When they tried to terminate a co-worker for taking an hour-long break, we looked at the collective bargaining agreement and came to find out that we were supposed to have a 30-minute lunch break. We could combine that with our other breaks to make up the hour with approval. But they had never explained it to us that way.
hospital. He worked for UPS for 15 years and was also a member of a very strong union – the Teamsters. I wear my Delegate’s badge all the time, which has a QR code on it, that I use to sign up members whenever I can. My tote bag is a union bag, and I always have an 1199 welcome pack on me. I try to catch my co-workers as they are leaving their shifts.
“Being a Delegate has helped me realize that I’m not just one small person on my own. I’m capable of making a change for both myself and my coworkers.”
I told management, if they wanted to fire someone for something as trivial as that, they might as well fire me too. The member was really impressed that I stood up for her like that.
You have to be bold with management and stand up to them, otherwise they just rely on intimidation. They feed on your being fearful.
For me the Union has always felt like family. I’m passionate about my membership, because of my husband who passed away in May 2021, just as I got hired at this
I also have a passion for political work. In this part of the country, you can really see the effects of politics. The hospital is only about 15 minutes’ drive from number 47’s resort, Mar-a-Lago. Politics is a taboo word to a lot of members. But I always tell people that regardless of whether you’re involved or not, politics is going to affect you. You can ignore it all you want to, but the minute you’re paying taxes in your city, your elected representatives are making decisions about how to spend your money. So, it’s important to elect the candidates who actually care about working people.
I worked on the Kamala Harris campaign and I’m often the Union spokesperson at rallies and events. I’ve been to the Florida state capital, Tallahassee, more times than I can count and I’ve been to Washington DC about eight or nine times. Working at an HCA Healthcare hospital, I also travelled to their headquarters in Tennessee and California for rallies protesting staffing levels and low wages.
We have a major issue with staff retention. Recently we had
three PCTs move to neighboring hospitals because they were offering better pay.
Groceries and rent are just so expensive right now. My rent has gone up by $200 a month since I moved in. Even earning $22 per hour at the hospital, I have to take shifts with Uber and Amazon to get by. I don’t drive past midnight, though. It’s normally late at night that the crazies come out. People following me, blowing their horn and shouting racist threats.
These types of people have always been here. They are some of the local residents in this area. They’re just bolder about it now.
I’ve got an ad for an immigration attorney on the side of my car, to earn some extra money. But it means that I’ve been followed by Homeland Security a few times. My front windows are not tinted, and once they see that it is a black person driving, they go away.
ICE agents are not allowed to enter my hospital, but the parking lot is fair game. I did hear of a lady that had a car accident somewhere and she came to the hospital to get treated. I guess whoever was at the accident scene reported that she was of Hispanic descent. So, once she got released from the hospital, ICE detained her in the parking lot.
I have two sons, aged 18 and 30. My 18-year-old works at a water park, where he fractured his foot recently by slipping on water. He was eligible for Worker’s Compensation, and I spent a lot of time using what I know to make sure he got what he should.
Being a Delegate has helped me realize that I’m not just one small person on my own. I’m capable of making changes for both myself and my co-workers.
1199 Magazine
September-October
2025
Vol. 43 No.5
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
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
April Ezzell
Kay Hickman
JJ Johnson
Desiree Taylor
1199 Magazine is published six times a year—January/ February, March/ April, May/June, July/ August, September/ October, November/ December—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
Organizing Planned Parenthood
Seven more clinics in Maryland have voted to unite with 1199, joining fellow Planned Parenthood members in New York and Massachusetts
In August, nearly 100 workers at seven Planned Parenthood clinics in the Baltimore area voted to form a union with 1199SEIU.
Shante Harris-El, a Nurse Practitioner at the Towson clinic, is excited to be one of the newly organized workers there. She says her passion for providing reproductive healthcare dates to her teenage years when she had to have an abortion herself. Ever since then, she wanted to work and teach in women’s healthcare, and “help teenagers learn about their bodies and [give] them control and power over themselves and their decisions.”
Planned Parenthood is both a symbol for feminist resistance and a frequent
punching bag for Republican politicians, but it remains a healthcare facility like any other, and its workers share similar concerns to other 1199 members, says Harris-El. She adds that “a lot of Planned Parenthood clinic workers were seeking unions because they wanted competent staff, a voice at work, better benefits, and better working conditions. Planned Parenthood is no different from other companies when it comes to staff wanting those benefits. [Management] is often more focused on the staff buying into the mission—and we do—but they sometimes fail to realize that we’re also working to make a living and take care of our families.”
Now, three years after Roe v. Wade
“[Management] is often more focused on the staff buying into the mission—and we do—but they sometimes fail to realize that we’re also working to make a living and take care of our families.”
– Shante Harris-El, a Nurse Practitioner at the Towson clinic
was overturned, Harris-El says that she sees more patients from nearby states with highly restrictive abortion legislation, especially West Virginia. A higher patient load combined with rapid staff turnover which Harris-El believes is mainly caused by fears about physical safety and job security under a federal administration seeking to eliminate abortion – makes short-staffing even worse, and underscores the need for a union.
“It’s very important for us to be unionized, because we are definitely under attack by our political system and government. Having a union, having one voice, is going to make Planned Parenthood stronger to fight the narrative that’s being presented, and keep our doors open so that we can support our mission,” she says.
Now that Harris-El’s facility is organized, she says she’s looking forward to solutions to chronic-short staffing which, she says, “decreases the quality of care” that the clinic can provide. That care encompasses not just abortions but numerous other services: “I want people to know that it’s not just abortion that’s under attack, it’s all the services that Planned Parenthood provides. It’s birth control, it’s preventative care, mammograms, orders for screening, pap smears, sexually transmitted infection tests, treatment for men and women, transgender care, education to schools and outreach. All of our services are under attack when you attack Planned Parenthood and shut down Planned Parenthood centers.”
Forming a union was not new to Harris-El. She previously worked at Planned Parenthood’s Syracuse, New York location before moving to Maryland with her husband and son in 2020. “The Syracuse-Rochester area [clinics] unionized under a union called CWA,” said Harris-El, “I was instrumental in helping that union organize.” When she arrived in Maryland and found that they were not yet organized either, she got involved in the 1199 campaign too.
Newly organized members (L to R): Cecelia Whye, Morolayo Waller, Shante Harris-El, Jaime Burton and Ivory Fowler.
No Time for Business as Usual
Moments of crisis demand creative and bold new ways of thinking. If circumstances aren’t moving in the right direction—and let’s be honest, life has been getting harder, not easier, for us as healthcare workers—we can’t carry on with the same old routine. Today, we are barreling towards massive federal cuts to Medicaid, and we must act quickly to defend our jobs and the care we provide. To succeed, we must listen to, uplift, and activate our greatest strength: our 450,000 members. Members’ leadership and activism is the source of 1199’s power. It is with this clear recognition and mandate that I was elected to serve as your President, and the guiding principle by which we are carrying our work forward.
As this magazine edition goes to print, the federal government is shut down. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed and critical services are at a standstill. Trump and Republican leaders manufactured a crisis—essentially holding the nation hostage—in an attempt to ram through over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, end Affordable Care Act subsidies that 22 million Americans depend on, and cut $200 billion from SNAP food assistance, all so they can deliver massive tax cuts to billionaires and corporations.
The “Big, Ugly Bill,” as we call it, is the most direct attack on health care and healthcare workers that we’ve seen in decades. Medicaid is the single most important source of healthcare funding in the US, and this Republican budget makes the largest cuts to the program ever. There is not a single hospital, nursing home, homecare agency, or community clinic in the country which will be immune to these awful cuts.
Ultimately, these circumstances mean that we, as 1199 members, are in the fight of our lives to protect
our livelihoods and our patients. Layoffs and facility closures are very real threats; some employers have even notified the union that they are struggling to make payroll. I say this not to alarm you, but to underscore the urgency of this moment and how our unity and collective efforts in response to these attacks are more vital than ever.
Our unionwide Listening Tour is in full swing, and as I’ve met with members, toured worksites, heard your stories and struggles, and gathered your insights, I am more inspired and determined than ever. Through these conversations, we are creating a unionwide plan of work grounded in your priorities, experiences, and vision for the future. It will reflect the real challenges you face every day on the job, to fix what’s broken, protect what’s working, and ensure that members have the tools and support needed to take big action for the fights ahead.
Those in power in Washington, DC, who are pushing an anti-worker/ pro-billionaire agenda are counting on our silence and inaction to allow their plans to succeed. But that is not who we are. 1199ers never shy away from a fight, and we are marshaling every resource at our disposal to push back, mobilizing in the streets, demanding courageous leadership from our elected officials, and getting out the vote in huge numbers this Election Day, November 4.
We know that the union is not a service. It is not a building. It is not an insurance policy. The union is us all of us—working together, arm in arm, as people with shared interests and using our collective power to win a better future. I know that 1199 members are the leaders this moment calls for, and just as generations of 1199ers before us stood up and made history, so too will we prove that our solidarity can overcome any obstacle put before us.
Those in power in Washington, DC, who are pushing an anti-worker/ pro-billionaire agenda are counting on our silence and inaction to allow their plans to succeed.
The President’s Column
Yvonne Armstrong
Around the Regions
Canvassing for Sherrill in New Jersey
New Jersey members put their boots on the ground in East Orange to canvass fellow voters in the tight race for Governor. The team educated voters about Mikie Sherrill, who has been representing the state’s 11th congressional district since 2019, and is now running for Governor. Early voting in NJ begins on October 25 and is available every day until November 2.
Marvie Zuniga, an 1199 Dietary member who works at the Alaris Health at the Atrium nursing home in Jersey City, said: “It is very important that we work to
elect Mikie Sherrill. She works for us and she cares about healthcare. The [federal] government right now is planning big cuts to Medicaid funding and as healthcare workers that is a big problem for us – especially in nursing homes, where we are already short-staffed. Sherill has always been a supporter of 1199ers.”
In Boston, Massachusetts, members continue to support Mayor Michelle Wu, the city’s first Asian and female leader. She is standing for reelection on November 4, but is running unopposed.
Baltimore members win 14 percent
“The [federal] government right now is planning big cuts to Medicaid funding and as healthcare workers that is a big problem for us. Sherill has always been a supporter of 1199ers.”
– Marvie Zuniga, 1199 Dietary member
NEW YORK NYC Brides
March
Members canvassing in East Orange, NJ.
1199er sports a sign she made herself.
Northwest Healthcare nursing home members were celebrating a victory on August 28 after reaching a tentative agreement with management including wage increases of up to 14 percent over the life of the contract. The agreement also includes weekend and evening shift differentials of up to $4/hour.
When management presented a last and final offer that fell short in midAugust, the 68 members at the facility in Baltimore City, Maryland, announced an informational picket scheduled on September 5. The threat of a picket showed the unity and strength of the members and brought the other side back to the table with a better offer.
1199 members joined hundreds of fellow community leaders, labor union activists, and domestic violence survivors to mark the 25th annual Brides March in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The event is held to commemorate the life of Gladys Ricart, who was tragically killed by her abusive ex-partner on her wedding day in 1999. On September 26, participants march in white dresses to remember all the lives that have been lost to domestic violence, support survivors and demand a future free from domestic and gender-based violence.
The event was attended by Assembly members Al Taylor and Amanda Septimo, who said: “This painful story, and so many others, continues to fuel our fight to end domestic violence in our community. While this issue is complicated, we know the critical first step is speaking out and assuring victims and survivors that they are not alone.”
Political Action Contribution Sweepstakes
Marisa Convo, a Massachusetts member from the Lynn Community Health Center on the outskirts of Boston, won Red Sox baseball tickets as part of the 1199SEIU Political Action Committee sweepstakes. As a proud Union member, she understands the value of political action and is seen here enjoying a free trip to the ball game with her partner.
Members children enjoy the rides.
Marisa Convo and her partner at the Red Sox game.
1199 Pharmacist Richard Cendagorta administers a vaccination.
Rochester Family Fun Day
1199ers from institutions all across Upstate New York came together with their families on August 23, for a day of Union fellowship and fun at the Seabreeze Amusement Park in Rochester. Members and their families came from Buffalo, Syracuse, the North Country as well as Rochester itself to enjoy fairground rides, great food and a live DJ.
Representatives of the Healthcare Education Project, US Congressman Joe Morelle, New York State Assembly members Desmond Meeks and Sarah Clark were also on hand to talk about how members can fight back against looming cuts to federal Medicaid funding, which threaten their patients and their families.
Members Protecting the Community
It’s time to update important vaccinations as the weather gets colder and more and more activities move indoors increasing the risk of spreading airborne viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.
1199ers at Walgreens are currently administering both shots on an appointment or walk in basis. Most health insurance covers these precautionary shots, free of charge for all adults ages 65 and over and for those under 65 with certain health conditions.
“I’m proud to be doing my part to keep my fellow New Yorkers healthy this winter.”
– Richard Cendagorta, 1199 Pharmacist
Richard Cendagorta, an 1199 Pharmacist, is seen here administering a vaccine. When the Rite Aid pharmacy where he worked for many years closed down as a result of bankruptcy the Union helped him to relocate to Walgreens and maintain his benefits. “I’m proud to be doing my part to keep my fellow New Yorkers healthy this winter,” he said.
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY
Immigrants Enrich America
Ethnic diversity is what makes our Union and our country what it is –a powerful and vibrant mix of the best cultural traditions in the world.
Michael Pacheco, a new Delegate at Brooklyn’s Brookdale Hospital flies the flag.
Each summer, first and second generation immigrants who make up a huge proportion of 1199 membership, come together in New York City to honor their heritage. And it is not only cultural variety that 1199ers appreciate. LGBTQ+ members celebrate Pride in Buffalo and Rochester, as well as in NYC. Members in these cities also took to the streets for Labor Day marches in September to demonstrate worker solidarity. No matter how many attacks the Republican extremists in Washington try to mount against our families and our communities, 1199ers will stand together and support and protect one another.
Puerto Rican Day
As ever, 1199ers made up a sizeable contingent at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City on Sunday, June 8. Brookdale Hospital Delegate and Social Worker, Susie
Labor Day
Members in several 1199 regions, most notably Rochester and Buffalo, took part in Labor Day worker solidarity parades on Monday, September 1. The New York City Labor Day march took place the following Saturday, September 6, with Union members displaying worker solidarity along 5th Avenue in Manhattan.
Collazo proudly celebrated her Borinquen pride.
West Indian Day
Adult masqueraders danced their way down Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights on Monday, September 1, in the West Indian American Day Carnival. With the help of contributions from Mount Sinai Brooklyn and One Brooklyn Health hospitals, 1199 mounts a MAS camp for costume production each year. Nadeszka Weah, an 1199 Discharge Planner Aide in the Psychiatric ward at Brookdale Hospital, whose mother was a member for three decades, grew up with the Union. “When I decided to play this year,” said Weah (pictured right), “Why go with anyone else but 1199?”
Dominican Day
On Sunday, August 10, home care member Carla Douglas joined Quisqueya festivities on Manhattan’s 6th Avenue for the National Dominican Day Parade – coming together in joy, solidarity and strength.
Junior Carnival
Union children displayed their dazzling costumes in Brooklyn on Saturday, August 30, when they paraded with pride at the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) Junior Carnival.
African American Day
In Harlem on Sunday, September 21, it was time to celebrate Black heritage, culture, unity, and power, at the African American Day Parade in Harlem.
Pride
1199ers celebrated LGBTQ+ pride throughout the month of June, with the Union’s newly elected President Yvonne Armstrong attending the NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 29. Earlier in the month, Upstate members took part in the Buffalo Pride Parade on Sunday, June 1 and at another Upstate Union stronghold, 1199ers joined the Rochester Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday, July 19.
The Work We Do: Patient Transport
It is natural for patients entering the hospital to feel disoriented and fearful of what may be coming next, as doctors work to treat their injuries and diagnose their conditions. If it is anything more than the most routine outpatient visit, patients will likely encounter an 1199 Patient Transport team member at Mount Sinai Morningside. Whether they require an x-ray, CT-scan, MRI or any of the other tests that are ordered to pinpoint the treatment they need, a friendly face will be ready to get them where they need to be and help to put them at their ease.
The Work We Do: Patient Transport
When I came into this work I didn’t realize how much of a therapist role I would be playing. When you ask a patient how their day is going, very often they open up like a book,” says Rafael Miranda, “Sometimes they tell me about their family troubles. It is the most rewarding part of my job.
“I had an endoscopy patient last week, who was really on edge and praying. I told her everything was going to be okay. Her husband was there, but she trusted me because I worked there.”
Miranda has begun the prerequisite courses for a two-year degree program in Radiology. “It’s not costing me anything thanks to the 1199 Training Fund. I really appreciate the education benefits and room for advancement that I have as part of being an 1199 member.”
Miranda finds his job at Mount Sinai Morningside fulfilling. “It’s not just working, but I feel like I am valuable part of the care team when I’m developing a rapport with patients. Having a positive mindset alters your mood. Getting well is about a mindset.
“Coming from a background in retail and customer service – I find this work to be much more rewarding. I’m helping my community in their time of need. I’m not just selling products. Our hospital doesn’t always get the best reviews. But people really care here.”
As someone who has worked in health care for 38 years, and as an 1199 member throughout, Elba Angell is now nearing retirement age knowing that she has a guaranteed income and retiree health care in place for herself and her spouse.
Angell started her career as an 1199 medical interpreter for Visiting Nurse Services, where she worked for 25 years. “I was laid off ten years ago because they brought in iPads,” she says, “It is not the same as having a person interpreting in the room next to you.”
Through the 1199 Job Security Fund, she was able to maintain her salary and benefits and move into Patient Transport 10 years ago.
“COVID was a difficult time here. Everybody was under pressure. It felt like going to war.” says Angell, “We had a refrigerated van outside because the morgue was so backed up. We lost staff members. I did catch it myself, but I bounced back and came back to work.
“Everyone dealt with it differently. I’m a quiet person and I keep it all in. That worked for me. I’m glad it is over, though we still have some COVID positive patients. I have health issues and I’m afraid of catching the virus again.”
The contact she has with patients is her favorite part of the job, which takes her all over the hospital: the ICU; discharge; the morgue; and transporting patients to the recovery room after an operation.
“We also take specimens to the lab, and bring stretchers and oxygen tanks downstairs,” she adds, “The CNAs are so short-staffed we sometimes help patients into their beds, too”
Arvis Weekes started out in Dietary at Mount Sinai Morningside after being laid off from a sister hospital in the year 2000. “When I came here, I started out as a Support Associate, stocking the drawers in the Emergency Room with supplies. When I heard there was an opening in Patient Transport, I went for it because I enjoyed the direct contact with the patients,” she says.
Working with Carlton Latchman in the ER, Weekes believes they make a good team. After all, they’ve been co-workers for 25 years. “At the end of the day, when we put our heads on the pillow, we know that the job we do helped our fellow human beings,” says Weekes, “I feel like we do not get the recognition we deserve, though. Sometimes housekeeping and dietary get recognition, and we are overlooked.”
During the pandemic Weekes and Latchman had to take a lot of patients to the morgue, and it was dangerous. “But no one ever comes to this department and acknowledges what we do. It is a hard job, and I go home beat. I’m 62 and still doing this work.
“Don’t get me wrong. This job is not easy, but I enjoy the excitement. There’s never a dull moment in the ER.
“The things I do and say to the patients to lift their mood is just as much for me as it is for them. It is so important that my day is not consumed by anger and malice.”
Shereka Clarke-Jenkins was working as a Support Associate, stocking the shelves with supplies, when the staffing manager told her about a job in Patient Transport, seven years ago. “One of the reasons I wanted to take the job was because I could get into 1199SEIU and be eligible for all the benefits. I’d heard it was the best union. I have two children aged eight and nine and the health benefits at my husband’s job are not good,” she says.
Now an 1199 Delegate, ClarkeJenkins worked as an Endoscopy Technician for a time but returned to Patient Transport because of the more flexible work schedule and greater interaction with patients.
“I’m often the first person they see. I try to ask them about their day and help them feel more comfortable,” she says.
“I was transporting a patient to an X-ray recently and she wanted to take a photo with her daughter on the internal bridge because thirty years ago she had carried her daughter there as a newborn baby. The patient’s condition was bad, and she didn’t know if she was going to be able to see her daughter again after her upcoming treatment.
“I went to check on her later and she told me, ‘You have no idea what you have done for me and my daughter.’”
“We do what we have to do to transport patients safely,” says Clarke-Jenkins, “But we always like to go the extra mile to make them feel special.”
“Back when I first started, we were part of St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center and it felt like the whole staff was focused on caring,” remembers Carlton Latchman . “Now it feels more like everything is about numbers.”
Having worked in Patient Transport for 36 years, Latchman has seen a lot of changes. “The Emergency Room is a more crowded place than it once was, with each nurse often looking after 10-15 patients. I try to support where I can, especially with the elderly patients. We all have parents and grandparents, and they could wind up here too.”
When ER patients need x-rays and CT scans, they go with Latchman. Sometimes he takes them to the third floor for an ultrasound.
Latchman has a few significant life changes on the horizon. He’s due to retire in a couple of years and “I have two twin boys and one just started college at the Fashion Institute of Technology here in Manhattan.
When the time comes to join the every-day-is-a-Saturday-club, “I hope that people recognize how much I have dedicated myself to the patients over all this time,” he says, adding: “I hope that everyone does not just forget about Carlton.”
“I try to support where I can, especially with the elderly patients. We all have parents and grandparents, and they could wind up here too”
– Carlton Latchman
Teach One Each One,
Our newly elected leadership is hitting the road to listen, learn, and lead together.
A New Chapter Built on Listening
Our union is entering a new era grounded in listening, honesty, and renewal. After being elected this spring on a pledge to restore transparency, accountability, and member power, President Yvonne Armstrong and Secretary-Treasurer Veronica Turner-Biggs are keeping that promise by listening first.
In August, they launched a Unionwide Listening Tour across every 1199 region, meeting directly with Delegates and members to hear unfiltered feedback about what is working, what is not, and how we rebuild stronger.
The insights gathered on the road will shape a unionwide plan of work, a roadmap for the next chapter of our union that Delegates will vote to ratify early next year.
Florida: Where It Began
Armstrong traveled to Florida first and Turner-Biggs participated virtually. As a so-called “right-towork” state, Florida presents steep challenges: no mandatory dues, limited labor protections, and constant anti-union pressure. Yet the passion and commitment of members there was undeniable.
“It’s important that we speak up and stand together,” said Virginia Kondas, a new Delegate and Advanced Practice RN at UHealth Tower in Miami. “Connecting faceto-face made this tour even more productive. We’re stronger when we share ideas.”
Florida members expressed pride in their resilience but also called for deeper support from our union in organizing, communication, and education. Armstrong and Turner-Biggs listened closely and committed to bring those lessons back to strengthen our work everywhere.
From Niagara to Boston: Members Speak Out
Across the regions, members spoke with honesty and courage about the challenges they face and the solutions they want to build.
At the Schoellkopf Health Center in Niagara Falls, LPN Early Pugh summed up the feeling in the room: “It’s unprecedented to have top union leaders visit our nursing home. In all my 29 years, we’ve never had that. It means everything.”
President Armstrong (center) visits the Lotus Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Orlando, Florida
In Rochester, Delegates shared hard-fought victories from recent contract campaigns and called for more consistency in grievance handling.
In Boston, Anastine Bentick-Alleyne, a longtime Delegate from South Boston Community Health Center, spoke about the growing fear facing immigrant families and the strain of Medicaid cuts: “Our families are having to choose between rent, food, and a doctor’s visit. This can’t continue. We have to fight back together.”
Her words echoed a common message across the tour: our union must do more than defend what we have. We must lead the fight for jus -
tice, in our workplaces, in our communities, and across the country.
From Critique to Commitment
At every stop, members raised tough but necessary questions about how our union communicates, enforces contracts, and handles grievances and arbitration.
On Long Island, Ryan Kunjbehar, a pharmacist at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, drew applause when he said: “Members deserve a clear, transparent way to track our grievance appeals. We can’t wait years only to find out there’s no record.”
Secretary-Treasurer Turner-Biggs agreed and announced that a digital grievance-tracking system is already in development as part of a broader effort to make our union more transparent and accountable.
These conversations, sometimes challenging but always passionate, are shaping real change
“We’re stronger when we share ideas.”
and reaffirming that our union is strongest when every member’s voice is heard.
Building a Stronger Union Together
With more than 200,000 members heading into contract negotiations across 167 institutions next year, and national politics in upheaval, Armstrong and Turner-Biggs are clear-eyed about the road ahead.
“Member leadership is more important than ever,” said Turner-Biggs. “Our power comes from our collective strength, and we must be prepared to show it.”
President Armstrong added that the Listening Tour is only the beginning:
“We’re not just hearing concerns; we’re building the next chapter of our union, shaped by the members themselves.”
Honoring Our Legacy, Inspiring the Future
In the Bronx, Diane McCleryNichols, who has served Montefiore Moses for nearly three decades, reminded her fellow Delegates of the roots of our union’s power:
“When I came into 1199, Delegates ran the shop. We have to get back to that, teaching the young people where our strength comes from. Each one, teach one.”
That spirit of mentorship, sol -
idarity, and love for our union has carried through every stop of the tour.
“Instead of waiting for someone to set the example, each one of us must try to be the example,” said Sonja Dixon, CASAC at St.
“We have to fight back together.”
– Anastine BentickAlleyne, a Delegate from South Boston Community Health Center.
John’s Riverside in Yonkers. From Florida to Massachusetts, from nursing homes to hospitals to home care, members are reclaiming their voice and ownership of our union’s future.
As the Listening Tour continues through New Jersey, Hudson Vally/Capital region, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Home Care in the months ahead, one thing is clear: this is not just a listening tour, this is the first step in rebuilding our movement. 1199SEIU’s strength has always come from our members. Now, guided by our voices and our unity, we are charting a bold, transparent, and accountable path forward together.
1199 Delegates from Cape Cod, MA, pictured with Secretary Treasurer Turner-Biggs (center wearing pink jacket).
– Virginia Kondas, a Delegate and Advanced Practice RN at UHealth Tower in Miami.
Possible Another World is
Mamdani makes his case to 1199ers in NYC to win their votes on November 4.
This time last year, few people outside of his Queens district had ever heard of New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani. Now, with his New York City mayoral contest just weeks away, Mamdani is being recognized all across the globe his candidacy is being seen by many as a beacon of hope that another world is possible.
Running without billionaire backing and instead relying on an army of more than 75,000 volunteers to beef up his field operation, Mamdani’s mayoral bid is focused squarely on lowering the cost of living for working people.
“I’m running to make the most expensive city in the US affordable,” said Mamdani, speaking to 1,500 Union delegates attending the 1199SEIU Listening Tour’s Downstate event in Manhattan on October 1.
“What makes this city possible for so many is the work of orga-
nized labor. There is no greater tool in taking on income inequality than union density,” he added, recognizing how closely his values aligned with 1199’s.
Talking about the bill passed in Washington DC, which is set to remove $8 billion from the NY budget alone and make health insurance impossible to afford for millions of New Yorkers, he added: “[The Republicans] have enough money for tax breaks for the private jets, but they don’t have enough money for a sick child facing chemotherapy.”
Anayansi Clark, an 1199 Home Care member from Staten Island said she planned to vote for Mamdani because:
“He will be a great mayor to fix our housing crisis. I live in Section 8 housing and my rent just increased by $200 a month, while the conditions are degrading. His plan to freeze the rent and improve
affordable housing is exactly what we need.”Acknowledging the enormous power that 1199 members wield in NYC electoral politics, Mamdani also hosted a question and answer session with members at St Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx on September 24. Elva King, an 1199 Delegate and CNA at the hospital for 25 years said, “We are a safety net hospital, which means we care for the most vulnerable. No one is ever turned away and 80 percent of our funding comes from Medicaid. Any cuts to Medicaid will not only hurt our patients, but deeply hurt our staff. Many of us come from the same community as those we take care of. We have to ensure that health care remains a right and not a privilege.”
Mandami agreed, “These cuts will be felt by all of you who have already been asked to do too much for too little for too many years.
“That money they are taking from Medicaid is not just disappearing. It is going into the pockets of the people who already have more money than they know what to do with. It is money going to the wealthiest and most profitable corporations.” He proposes that the tax rate for corporations operating in NYC should be made the same as that of neighboring New Jersey. Such a measure would raise $5 billion new revenue for NYC every year. To critics who say that such a tax would drive corporations out of NYC altogether, he counters that there would be few corporations who would be prepared to walk away from what is a very lucrative market.
Marissa Weaver, said she has been working at St. Barnabas for 25 years and was born and raised in New York City. She relies on Section 8 vouchers for her housing and worries about Republican threats to cap these programs after two years. Mamdani said part of the solution is his plan to build 200,000 new homes to ensure that “those who save lives in NYC are still able to afford to live in NYC.”
Along with freezing the rent on rent-stabilized apartments, making city buses run fast and free and introducing universal child care for children as young as six weeks until they are five years old, Mamdani wants to concentrate his program around affordability to make the city more livable for working people.
“It all comes back to choices made by elected officials. It costs around $700 million to make buses free, adding: “It is not that long ago in Albany that the state government, decided to give Elon Musk $950 million worth of tax credits. That money could have made buses free for the entire year, and then some.”
Acknowledging the backbreaking work that so many 1199ers do without fanfare to keep NYC healthy and cared for, he said to 1,500 Union Delegates attending the Listening Tour in Manhattan: “I may be running to be the next Mayor of this city, but I look out and I see the leaders of this city. I see people who whether we are speaking of your hospitals, your union chapters, your communities or your families you are the ones who give faith back to those who have lost it in politicians.”
“He will be a great mayor to fix our housing crisis. His plan to freeze the rent and improve affordable housing is exactly what we need.”
–Anayansi Clark an 1199 Home Care member from Staten Island.
1199’s endorsed Mayoral Candidate for NYC, Zohran Mamdani, addresses members in Manhattan.
Peggy Vujevich, an 1199 Renal Dietician at a dialysis center in Brooklyn supporting Mamdani at NYC Labor Day march on September 6.
Upstate Members
Win 28 percent
Nursing home members at 25 facilities in Western New York win landmark wage increases following coordinated strike action.
Nursing home members in Western New York have won contracts for 25 facilities as part of a four-year strategy of coordinated bargaining to improve benefits and wages at facilities in four WNY counties.
Members at Schoellkopf Health Center won the first contract settlement of the campaign a landmark agreement including average wage increases of up to 28 percent over three years that set a standard for the remaining facilities to drive at the bargaining table.
Member leaders set out to negotiate contracts that would raise wages and improve conditions for nursing home workers all across Western New York. Their goal was to leverage collective power to achieve a standard set of wages and benefits that would help recruit and
retain workers to provide care for some of the most vulnerable residents in their local communities.
More than 3,600 nursing home workers participated in the historic campaign that began with 27 different long-term care facilities in Erie, Niagara, Allegany, and Cattaraugus Counties. Of the 27 facilities, 24 were for-profit with common owners at 15 facilities including: RCA Group, Centers Healthcare, Elderwood Group, McGuire Group, Personal Healthcare, and the Sherman Family.
Members made the public aware of their contract fight by participating in informational pickets at 22 different facilities. At every informational picket, members were united and ready, drawing particular attention to staffing levels a top priority for bargaining. During
an informational picket at Newfane Rehabilitation & Nursing in rural Niagara county, workers held signs saying: “2 Aides for 52 residents,” as they marched and chanted in front outside the facility.
At other informational pickets, workers demanded that for-profit owners stop making changes impacting staffing levels. “Elderwood cut off our daily overtime. When management took that away, some people quit – it was a perk and people were depending on it,” said Lois Lovett, Certified Nurse Assistant at Elderwood at Williamsville.
Members at Schoellkopf Residence were the first to reach agreement. In addition to wage increases, the employer agreed to increase their contributions towards their pensions as well as dental and optical insurance coverage.
As well as setting the new industry wage standard in WNY, members at Schoellkopf won access to the 1199SEIU Childcare Benefit Fund. This was the first facility in WNY to win the childcare benefit outside of Rochester and
New York City.
In the face of threats, intimidation and coercive tactics by the boss, workers united to move forward at 17 facilities by overwhelming voting for seven-day strikes.
“We are tired of delays and frequent let downs. We are a skilled team of professionals and contribute so much to the company. We play an important role in the overall health and well-being of our residents. We want a contract that reflects the value we bring every day,” said Joshua Previte, Occupational Therapist at Absolut Care of Aurora Park.
Just hours before workers at 17 facilities were scheduled to hit the strike lines, progress at the table and several tentative agreements led 1199SEIU to withdraw 10-day strike notices for 12 facilities. But the fight continued at the McGuire Group, RCA Gasport, and the Elderwoods.
As unfair labor practice strikes at the five remaining facilities grew near, some nursing homeowners refused to allow union organizing staff access to facilities. Manage-
ment and owners began threatening and intimidating workers who planned to strike.
In one instance, workers at a McGuire group facility were told if they participated in the strikes, they would not be able to visit loved ones inside the facility. “I feel that they are using our loved ones as a pawn to get us to cross the strike line,” said Carey Ziehm, another 1199 CNA at North Gate Manor.
The coordinated action eventually led to settlements at 25 facilities, but the for-profit owners of Elderwood who own the two remaining homes are still refusing to come to the table to negotiate a fair agreement.
“They are multi-millionaires and don’t want to give us any money,” says Marcie Livergood, Licensed Practical Nurse at Elderwood at Lockport. Low wages contribute to high turnover rates, leaving workers caring for too many residents, risking quality care,” said Livergood. As this edition was going to press, the fight at the Elderwood facilities was continuing.
“I feel that they are using our loved ones as a pawn to get us to cross the strike line.”
Opposite page: Members on strike at Elderwood Lockport nursing home, near Niagara Falls, NY.
Informational picket at the Grand at Delaware Park nursing home in Buffalo, NY.
– Carey Ziehm, 1199 CNA at North Gate Manor
“We just want a fair shot so we don’t have to work three or four jobs.”
–Lisa Johnson, a homecare worker with Bestcare Agency.
OCCUPY WALL THE LEGACY OF
How the movement focused attention on the centrality of economic inequality.
When Zohran Mamdani attended the March on Wall Street on August 28, his presence inevitably sparked comparisons with the months-long occupation of nearby Zuccotti Park 15 years before, which sparked the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement.
Many would argue that OWS activists helped lay the groundwork for Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for NYC Mayor in June. The centerpiece of Mamdani’s campaign is – after all – making the city more affordable while tackling economic inequality.
It was on Sept. 17, 2011, that a group of heroic young activists occupied Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan to protest the nation’s increasing economic inequality. Anger had risen throughout the nation following the 2008 bailout of the too-big-to fail banks while working and poor people lost their homes and livelihoods.
The demonstrators’ slogan “We are the 99%” was picked up by the labor movement and activists throughout the nation and around the world.
1199ers sport t-shirts with this slogan at political rallies to this day.
Soon after the encampment began, 1199SEIU’s executive council voted unanimously to give the protesters its full support, including medical assistance. Members and their families also volunteered at the encampment.
On Oct. 5, 2011, some 20,000 protesters –the majority being union members – marched through Lower Manhattan in support of the movement. The former 1199SEIU President George Gresham and former SEIU President Mary Kay Henry were arrested for civil disobedience.
Some OWS activists said that they drew inspiration from the 2010 Arab Spring protests in the Middle East and the 2011 Wisconsin protests against Governor Scott Walker’s legislation to strip public sector unions of collective bargaining rights. Occupy played the same role for numerous actions during the decade. For example, 1199SEIU members declared that they
2016.
Members attend Fight for Fifteen rally on Martin Luther King Day on January 18,
STREET
and the hospital patients were part of the 99% in their successful campaign to save Brookdale Hospital.
OWS was not able to sustain itself, but it helped spawn other movements that took up its message of economic inequality and targeting the billionaire class. Many groups embraced OWS’s organizing model that stressed broad participation and consensus. Movements – aided by the rise of smartphones –stepped up the use of social media.
One such movement was Black Lives Matter (BLM), which can be traced to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2013. Members in the Florida region led actions to protest the acquittal and to demand justice. Other 1199 regions took part in similar actions. In New York, members led protests against the 2014 killing of Eric Garner in Staten Island, noting that the parents of young people such as Sean Bell and Ramarley Graham were members of the 1199 family.
In Massachusetts, 1199ers raised the slogan of the 99% in its 2012 Senate campaign that helped progressive Democrat Elizabeth Warren defeat Republican incumbent Scott Brown. The next year, 1199 in New York backed Bill de Blasio’s campaign for mayor. De Blasio’s campaign theme was “Tale of Two Cities,” which stressed that the wealthy were prospering while working people were struggling to make ends meet. 1199’s support helped to catapult de Blasio from near the back of a crowded field to victory.
1199’s leaders and retirees living in North Carolina made frequent trips to Raleigh to take part in civil disobedience protests beginning in 2014. In addition to economic inequality, the movement sought to address issues such as voter disenfranchisement, social services cuts, environmental degradation and anti-labor legislation. The movement has grown into the national Poor People’s Campaign.
Although Occupy’s primary goal was to shine a spotlight on economic inequality, it did not raise concrete demands. The Fight for $15 did. Organizations and unions such as SEIU and 1199SEIU took up the mantle. The movement began when New York City fast-food workers walked off the job on Nov. 29, 2012. Our national union, SEIU, was one of the organizers of the walkout.
SEIU and 1199 led the national Fight for $15 among
healthcare workers. The campaign stressed that Fight For $15 is not just about low-wage caregivers, it is about the future of all healthcare jobs and our entire industry. The unions argued that raising wages was also about race and gender; the overwhelming majority of the workers are women of color.
“We just want a fair shot so we don’t have to work three or four jobs so we can spend time with our children,” said Lisa Johnson, a homecare worker with Bestcare Agency.
In 2016, The NYS Legislature passed a bill that raised the minimum wage for all NYC workers to $15 an hour by 2018. In announcing the victory, 1199’s official statement read, “We are now on the path to a true living wage.”
The fight for economic justice is far from over. In fact, inequality continues to rise as the profits of corporations and the billionaires who own them, explode. Tens of millions of Americans are still unable to make ends meet.
That is why 1199 members will continue to fight for a more level playing field and work to elect political leaders who share their commitment to promoting economic justice.
Tenant advocate at 1199 protest at Brooklyn Bridge on May 14, 2015 over the lapse of NY statewide rent regulation laws.
Hilda Haye-Brown, an 1199 Diagnostic Tech at Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts after being sworn in as a Delegate in late September. Earlier in the month, she took part in a Listening Tour delegation to Buffalo, NY, to compare notes with fellow Delegates there. See page 16.
