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A JOURNAL OF 1199SEIU July/August 2014

1199SEIU League negotiating committee celebrates contract signing July 21 with (l-r) Union Secretary Treasurer Maria Castaneda, Pres. George Gresham and League Pres. Bruce McIver.

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July/August 2014 • Our Life And Times

Contract Wins Across the Regions

LEAGUE CONTRACT VICTORY!

3 President’s Column

Editorial

Our Life and Times July/August 2014

NEVER 4 BACK DOWN

In The Regions

Health and Hospitals Corp. workers negotiate groundbreaking contract; Capital Region unity saves a nursing home; Hopkins members stay strong and win their contract fight & more.

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The League Contract Victory

Historic agreement includes significant wage increases and provides organizing principles for ambulatory care centers.

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All Politics Is Local

Members are helping candidates win crucial races.

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1199SEIU Takes on Climate Change

Union calls for massive turnout at Sept. 21 People’s Climate March.

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University of Miami Workers Lead the Way

Exemplary new contract includes a $10.10 per hour minimum wage.

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Our Kids at Camp

There’s a saying about labor’s power that goes, “the longer the picket line, the shorter the strike.” This issue of Our Life And Times is about the power of labor, specifically the power of our members to continue winning in tough times. 1199SEIU members across our regions continue to win strong contracts in one of the most anti-labor, antiunion environments in our country’s history. And they do it by never backing down.

In July, members in downstate New York negotiated a historic new contract with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes. That agreement provides significant wage increases, secures health benefits, and perhaps most important provides organizing principles for a quickly growing number of ambulatory care clinics.

“They tried to divide us, and it didn’t work,” says Josie Rivas, a medical records clerk at Jamaica Hospital in Queens. “We stuck together, and we won a great contract.”

In Baltimore, some 2,000 members of the Union took on mighty Johns Hopkins Medical Center in a hard contract fight, and after a months-long struggle that included a three-day strike and a rally that drew thousands of 1199ers from up and down the East Coast, they won. 1199ers stood strong and made management come back to the table four times after putting down

what they called their best and final offer. The fight demonstrated to members a sense of their own power, says negotiating committee member Bob Domulevicz, a Hopkins warehouse worker.

“Before this, Hopkins walked all over us and told us when we had enough. Not anymore,” he says.

1199ers aren’t just a force at the bargaining table.

They help elect worker-friendly candidates to every level of public office and work on behalf of public policy and legislation that benefits our communities and families.

“It’s empowering to know that I’m part of an organization that maintains an active ongoing relationships with elected officials who are writing the policies that impact my workplace,” said New York City home attendant Marilyn Greene, who has participated in numerous get-out-the-vote efforts and will again be out this election season.

Telemetry tech Jennifer Dolcine recently helped negotiate a groundbreaking contract at University of Miami Hospital, which sets the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour.

“The more we are together, the stronger we are,” she says. “That’s what I love about our Union. People have a voice and aren’t afraid to speak up.”

The New York YMCA Camp in Huguenot, NY

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SCOTUS v. Workers

Recent Supreme Court decisions continue decades-long war on working people.

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Remembering Ruby Dee

She was a talented, brilliant woman, a leader for Civil Rights and an artist who pushed creative boundaries.

Our Life And Times, July/August 2014 Vol 32, No 4 Published by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East 310 West 43rd St. New York, NY 10036 Telephone (212) 582-1890 www.1199seiu.org president

George Gresham

acting editor

Patricia Kenney director of photography

Jim Tynan photographer

Belinda Gallegos art direction & design

Maiarelli Studio

cover photograph

Jim Tynan contributors

Mindy Berman Aaron Blye JJ Johnson

secretary treasurer

Maria Castaneda executive vice presidents

Norma Amsterdam Yvonne Armstrong Lisa Brown-Beloch Angela Doyle George Kennedy Steve Kramer Joyce Neil John Reid Bruce Richard Mike Rifkin Monica Russo Rona Shapiro Neva Shillingford Milly Silva Veronica Turner Laurie Vallone Estela Vazquez

Our Life And Times 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, 310 W.43 St, New York, NY 10036.

Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Our Life And Times, 301 W.43 St., New York, NY 10036.

LUBA LUKOVA

@1199seiu www.facebook.com/SEIU www.1199seiu.org July/August 2014 • Our Life And Times

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Letters FOREVER A TECH: RETIREE VISITS NYC FOR LAB WEEK t’s been approximately three-and-a-half years since I retired as a clinical laboratory technologist and relocated from New York to Charlotte, NC. It’s hard to believe that I worked in the field for a total of 41 years. I met so many wonderful people and made so many lasting friendships. My colleagues remain in my heart. I made a promise to my colleagues that even though I retired to a new state, I would return.

I kept my promise.

Last spring, I made a short four-day visit to New York that included having lunch with my clinical laboratory technology colleagues at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream, NY and visiting family and friends. But I arranged the timing of the trip to coincide with two wonderful events: The 1199SEIU laboratory seminar, “The Clinical Laboratory Scientists in the Modern Healthcare Delivery System” and National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, which was held April 20 – 26, 2014. The week recognizes the important role that medical laboratory professionals play in saving lives.

What a wonderful time seeing my fellow colleagues. It was a great professional and educational laboratory seminar. There were over 200 participants onsite and over 500 participants in total (onsite, live video cast and live webcast). Thank you for a job well done. All seminars are nationally accredited and free to 1199SEIU members. Their purpose is to keep the members up-to-date in their prospective field. I received six education credits for my attendance; it’s important to stay up-to-date in the field, whether working or retired.

I am proud of 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East for many reasons. Our Union carried the Clinical Laboratory Technology Practitioners of New York State over the finish line for licensure on Jan. 31, 2005. A heartfelt thank you to the many organizations and individuals who worked behind the scenes to make licensure under the New York State Education Department a reality.

Forever a Tech,

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VIVIAN Y. STUART

Retired, MS, MT (ASCP), CLS, Educator, Clinical Laboratory Technology Board Member, New York State Education Department (NYSED)

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL was on the negotiating committee for our League contract and the experience inspired me to write this poem. I’m so proud of what we won and the work members did together. This contract reminded management that we’ll all be patients one day. We let them know that it’s critical to have respect for the caregivers in our institutions. I’m proud of our Union. 1199 is my family. We can do anything when we stand together.

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United We Stand, Divided We Fall The union calls us to unite.

For quality care we’re making a call, For justice and fairness we fight.

We are on the mission, we raise our voice, The management must understand: We care for people, we care for you, Please listen, you have no choice.

All healthcare workers—we stand up for our rights, Good benefits the union demands.

For wages increase and good jobs we all fight.

The health care is in our hands.

We are caregivers, we save many lives.

Nobody can survive without us.

We also deserve to be cared for, Not much we are going to ask.

1199 calls us to unite.

All brothers and sisters are strong.

Stand shoulder to shoulder as close as we can, We are strong! We cannot be torn.

United and strong for an important and right cause, We are not going to change our mind.

Good healthcare not only that the rich deserve, But all of us: think and be kind.

One union, one voice and stronger together We’ll win any battle for each our worker, For all working people across our big nation, We’ll win better standards for us and the patients.

YANA GRAUER

NY Methodist Hospital Brooklyn, NY

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July/August 2014 • Our Life And Times

THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN George Gresham

Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now! With renewed strength and commitment, 1199ers are an unmatched force for change.

I hope you are all are proud of yourselves. You sure should be.

Even as our 1199SEIU sisters and brothers from Miami to Boston fight the good fight for our patients and our families all year long, 1199ers in Baltimore and downstate New York achieved two of our greatest victories ever this summer.

On nearly any 1199SEIU picket line or demonstration, passersby will hear the call-and-response: “Who’s Got the Power? We Got the Power.

What kind of power? Union Power!” Well, this year that became more than simply a chant. For the first time, thousands of 1199SEIU members actually came to feel their power, and to understand what the Union is.

Going up against Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, MD, one of the world’s wealthiest healthcare institutions which paid “fastfood” wages to many of its caregivers, 1199SEIU sisters and brothers negotiated for months. Meantime, they built their strength on the floors and in their community, to the point where they organized a successful three-day strike, and voted to strike again if necessary. It was because of this determination and unity that Hopkins finally negotiated the fair and decent settlement our members deserve.

Highlights of the agreement included total raises as high as 38 percent for long-time, low-paid Hopkins workers—many of whom have been forced to rely on public assistance—a boost of as much as $4.30 an hour over the life of the contract; and the immediate establishment of higher minimum wages for long-term workers: $15/hour for workers with 20 years seniority, and $14.50 for workers with 15 years seniority.

In New York, the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, which employs 70,000 1199ers in 106 hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare institutions (with tens of thousands more union members employed by “me-too” institutions who negotiate contracts patterned on the League’s), decided to re-open the contract a year before it expired.

Over several decades, 1199ers fought for and won comprehensive healthcare benefits with no out-of-pocket expenses. Now the employers wanted give-backs. But our members let it be known that “no way that’s going to happen.”

Again, after months of negotiations, and a year-and-a-half of a “chapter-building” (actually chapter-strengthening) campaign, over 90 percent of our sisters and brothers voted to strike if necessary. The League saw the better wisdom of settling. The result: members keep their benefits as is, get a 13 percent-plus raise over four years, and our union has a means of organizing tens of thousands of new members in clinics and other offsite facilities being bought up by the large networks.

All of this happened in Maryland and New York because members found their voices, discovered their strength, and were prepared to use it to defend and advance what is rightfully ours. Tens of thousands of 1199ers now know in a way they’ve never known before: that our union is not a bunch of headquarters buildings. It is not our talented and hardworking staff and officers. 1199 derives its power in our institutions, in our communities, and in the political life of our cities and states from our 400,000 active members and retirees.

Nearly a century ago, in 1915, the great union hymn “Solidarity Forever” was written to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.” Its first verse goes: When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run, There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun; Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, But the union makes us strong.

I would urge all of our sisters and brothers, now that we are discovering our power, to not stop now. We’ve won good contracts in downstate New York and at Hopkins in Baltimore. But those contracts need to be enforced in our departments and on every shift. Moreover, our members have some 1,000 employers whose contracts need to be secured and re-won.

And in the life of our country and in our communities, working people and our families need to struggle every day for a decent life. Our country needs 1199SEIU and its members to keep hope alive. As our adopted 1199 anthem says, “Ain’t no stoppin’ us now!”

InTheRegions

MASSACHUSETTS

In the Face of Brutal Cuts, Zenith Caregivers Strike

June 2 picket at Alaris Health at Castle Hill in Union City, NJ. Workers have been without a contract for four months.

NEW JERSEY

Four NJ Nursing Homes Ready For Strike have two Hoyer lifts and one of them isn’t even working. We can’t take care of our residents this way.”

In May and June workers held informational pickets at all four Alaris facilities, calling on the company and its multi-millionaire owner Avery Eisenriech to bargain in good faith. During negotiations, the company has consistently resisted moving off proposals that call for concessions from workers earning as little as $23,000 per year and demanding hundreds of dollars a month in healthcare premiums for family coverage and reductions in paid sick time.

Many full-time, low-wage-earning Alaris workers are already on public assistance and Medicaid. Management’s proposed cuts would be devastating to these lowwage earning workers.

“Our work is about having compassion. We just want to be able to provide the right kind of care for our residents and take care of our families also,” says CNA Ella Moton, who told how she once clocked out and went back to work to spend time with a resident in her last hours of life. “Our residents deserve more of our time. And we want to be able to spend a little time with them. They have led extraordinary lives.” Go to www.Alarisk.com to find out more or how you can support workers at Alaris Health.

care for more than the 100 seniors who call it home,” said Lermond Metelus, a Certified Nursing Assistant of 25 years whose wages were slashed by 50 percent.

CNA Marie Jean’s pay was drastically cut from $17.50 an hour to $11.50. On top of that, management deducted hundreds of dollars from her paycheck as payment for her healthcare premium.

“I have three children, including a daughter in college, and a mortgage to pay. We had sick days before. Now they’ve changed everything, and made the pay for all CNAs $11.50,” says Jean. “And now they’re going around confusing patients and closing parts of the facility and moving people around. I’m here for the patients, too, and their families support us. I’ll continue fighting.”

After caregivers unanimously voted for a three-day strike, Zenith began to bargain. Negotiations are ongoing.

Legislation was just approved in the Massachusetts State House that would encourage more transparency and community input regarding future potential nursing home takeovers like the one that has occurred in Lexington. The bill, recently signed by the Governor is supported by 1199SEIU caregivers and would create a public hearing process in the event of nursing home purchases and sales, including transactions involving outof-state entities like Zenith.

June 16 info picket protested devastating cuts at Zenith Nursing Home in Lexington, MA. Management proposed slashing pay by as much as 60 percent.

ROSE LINCOLN PHOTO

The 450 caregivers who work at four nursing homes owned by Alaris Health in New Jersey have been working without a contract for nearly four months. At a July 24 press conference in Jersey City’s Journal Square they made it clear that they’ve had enough and are ready strike.

“Despite our low wages, we give the best care,” said Martha Olsem, a CNA at Alaris Health at Harborview in Jersey City. “We’re proud of the work we do. We just want a fair contract, and we’ll win one together and with the help of our community.”

Workers from Harborview and the other three facilities—Alaris Health at Castle Hill in Union City, Alaris Health at Boulevard East in Guttenberg and Alaris Health at Rochelle Park in Rochelle Park— have been in fruitless negotiations with the company since April. Although the company averaged more than $125 million in net profits between 2010 and 2012, it’s still been accused of persistent staffing shortages and unfair labor practices.

“We used to have nine CNAs on my shift, now we only have eight. It’s really hard to work like that. It makes a big difference. And we don’t have the supplies we need,” says Lovette Howard, a CNA at Boulevard East in Guttenberg. “We only

Embattled 1199SEIU members at Zenith Nursing Home in Lexington, MA have forced the new owner, Zenith Healthcare Group, to the bargaining table. Zenith took over the former Golden Living Facility in May, slashing wages 40 to 60 percent and hiking the cost of family health insurance to $18,000 per year. In addition, long-time staff lost up to 17 days off per year in draconian benefit cuts.

Patient care was jeopardized when administrators closed part of the facility, transferred patients to different sections of the home, and minimized caregivers on shift. Zenith initially contended that their changes were non-negotiable, refusing to bargain with the workers in complete disregard for residents and the livelihoods of 1199SEIU members.

Members fought for their jobs with an informational picket, rapidly gaining the support of residents, community members, and elected officials. Caregivers held a one-day strike on June 30, which was authorized with a unanimous vote. Faith leaders and elected officials have written letters in support of the workers and residents to Zenith CEO Ari Schwartz, asking for fair negotiations.

“We already didn’t have enough staff at this facility, and now they’re going to drive out anyone remotely qualified to

NEW YORK

HHC Members Negotiate Groundbreaking Contract Some 2,700 caregivers who work in New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and New York State agencies, including the Departments of Health, Corrections and Environmental Services this June settled a groundbreaking new contract. For the first time their contract includes training and upgrading benefits, a child care fund and eldercare benefits that will help members care for aging family members. Only five other collective bargaining agreements in the U.S. provide workers with eldercare benefits.

“I think we did really well with this contract,” says delegate Linda Morton, an oncological pharmacist at Queens Hospital in Flushing, NY. “A lot of our members have older parents. Some of them are in nursing homes, but people can’t always afford that or they want to stay at home with their families. This benefit will give people a better quality of life, which is what we all want to begin with.”

Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, public workers were without a contract for more than five years.

When Mayor Bill de Blasio came into office he made settling an agreement with public workers a priority, in keeping with his commitment to addressing the city’s income gap and its devastating effects on the working class.

“Members are also looking forward to having a child care fund. My kids are grown, but this will especially help our younger members and their families; programs like summer camp are so expensive,” says Morton. “The training benefit will help me. In my profession, we need 75 continuing education credits a year and that money can really add up.”

The five-year pact, which was overwhelmingly approved during July ratification votes, also includes retroactive wage payments, 15% wage increases, expansion of the recognition clause and a structured settlement for retirees who missed out on wage increases while the contract was delayed in arbitration during the Bloomberg administration.

Along with 1199SEIU members, more than 8,000 registered nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) also settled their agreement with the City. The NYSNA agreement includes the same terms as the 1199SEIU contract and covers nurses in hospitals and various mayoral agencies.

“This agreement reflects what we can achieve when we work together with a progressive mayor to make positive changes in the lives of city nurses and our patients,” said NYSNA HHC Executive Council Pres. RN Anne Bovè.

HHC workers overwhelmingly ratified the contract in a July vote, among them were these members from Queens Hospital in Flushing, NY. July/August 2014 • Our Life And Times

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Massive May rally for Hopkins workers brought thousands to Baltimore.

Hopkins Contract Victory!

After a hard fought struggle, workers at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, MD settled new contract July 8. The fourand-a-half year agreement covers 2,000 workers and dramatically improves pay for low-wage workers at the world-renowned institution.

Talks at the Hopkins began in March, but quickly spiraled when management made it clear they were unwilling to make real progress on wages. Hopkins caregivers held a three-day strike in April followed by a mass rally in the city’s Inner Harbor in May, which drew thousands of 1199ers from up and down the East Coast. A second strike was planned for June, but called off at the

request of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, when he asked both parties to take a oneweek cooling off period.

The new contract represents a significant improvement over what Hopkins management called its “last, best and final” offer when they left the bargaining table in early April. Negotiating committee member Bob Domulevicz says the agreement is demonstration of members’ commitment to change at Hopkins.

“Before this, Hopkins walked all over us and told us when we had enough. Not anymore,” says Domulevicz, a Hopkins warehouse worker. “In these negotiations, four times Hopkins told us this was their final offer and four times we got them to come

NEW YORK

In NYS Capital Region, Unity Saves a Nursing Home

Recently, nurses and service and maintenance workers at Albany County Nursing Home (ACNH) in the Capital region of New York State ratified a contract that will provide annual raises for four years. This is a solid victory, especially at a time when the nursing home industry is financially struggling.

But there’s more. This contract effectively saved the county-run facility from going out of business. There are still more than 40 county-owned nursing home facilities in New York although five have closed and 13 have been sold in recent years; many have been privatized within the past 12 months.

ACNH, operated by Albany County, has been losing money annually for years.

It’s a story that goes back more than a decade, as previous and current county executives and legislators have proposed plans to privatize or even close the home altogether. For more than 10 years, residents, caregivers and all of their families lived with uncertainty about what would happen next.

“We were working and living without knowing what will happen from one day to the next,” says Donna McBean, an 1199SEIU delegate and RN for more than 20 years. “It was clear that without some changes to generate savings, there would be no choice other than shuttering the place.

So we stepped up. Some workers’ schedules will change from 37.5 hours to 35 hours.

But everyone gets a raise. No one has had any raise in more than six years.”

The problem here, and at county homes across New York, is local budget pressures and a changing world of healthcare reimbursement. County governments

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no longer want to be in the healthcare business. In Albany County, executives have proposed privatizing ACNH several times, but because of organized pushback from 1199SEIU members, resident families and the community, the legislature refused.

“The workers give beyond the call of duty every single day and this contract is another example. They saved the nursing home. The workers are the real heroes of this story,” says Maureen Aumand, whose brother is a resident at ACNH. Recently, a solution was found to keep ACNH open, and a proposal was made and passed that created a local development corporation (LDC), which is taking over operations. Under the LDC, the workers remain county employees and will be able to maintain their current health and pension benefits. And Albany County officials will still maintain control over the corporation, as an accounting tool used by governments to address fiscal issues.

“These things were hard to take, but on the other hand, we are keeping our health insurance and our pension, and we have jobs,” says McBean, adding that some workers also gave up differential pay for weekend shifts. “That is a saying a lot during a time when the entire nursing home industry is troubled. Our nursing home is going to stay open.”

About 20 miles west of Albany stands a new county-run, state of the art nursing and rehabilitation center, the Glendale Home. The $44 million home is still owned and operated by Schenectady County, while most other counties are seeking to sell their nursing homes.

Glendale is another example of the

July/August 2014 • Our Life And Times

perseverance of 1199SEIU members who, with their community and local officials, organized an effort to save the 200-bed historic nursing home. Glendale was originally opened in 1936 to provide care for the county’s poor, frail and elderly citizens.

“There were definitely times I didn’t believe we would see the day when the new nursing home would open. I can’t remember how many times I gave testimony, explaining that we strongly support services for senior citizens who can stay in their family homes—but there are always going to be people who need 24/7 skilled nursing care,” says Brenda Olsen, a long-time CNA at the Glendale Home. “Those people deserve to be able to live in a nursing home that is close to their families. This project was the right thing—the humane thing to do. And I am grateful Schenectady County officials worked with us and the entire community to ensure it happened.”

Historically, counties considered public nursing homes to be an important part of their mission, and cited their role in providing a “safety net” for vulnerable populations, including serving disproportionate numbers of low-income and “hard to place” residents. In 1997 there were 40 counties outside of New York City operating nursing homes. By 2013 that number dropped to 33.

According to the New York State Health Foundation, county nursing homes are a $1.8 billion business, and account for 10,000 full-time jobs. They are typically 45% to 50% larger than the average forprofit or non-profit facility and admit an estimated 25% of residents on Medicaid versus 10% for other types of homes.

ROBERT KIRKHAM PHOTO

MARYLAND

back to the table.”

Under the new agreement low-paid employees receive raises as high as 38 percent over the life of the contract. Workers also won a $15-an-hour minimum wage that will apply immediately to workers with 20 years of service. Workers with 15 years of service will make at least $14.50 in 2015. Other highlights of the agreement include: • Low-paid Hopkins workers will receive a boost of as much as $4.30 an hour over the life of the contract.

• The $14.50 minimum wage in 2015 for workers with 15 years’ experience will rise to over $15 an hour in 2017. Current workers will make at least $13/hour by 2018.

• Across-the-board raises of at least 2% every year, with a 2% raise and a 0.5% bonus in the first year of the contract, and a 2.75% raise in 2017.

• An agreement to establish a committee to review market rates for surgical techs, pharmacy techs and other workers whose pay is under market.

The contract was overwhelmingly approved during a ratification votes on July 10 and 11.

“I think people are really pleased with this contract, but it’s just the first step in a long war,” says Domulevicz. “We will keep doing things between now and the next contract. People deserve a living wage.

People need to be able to live on their check after a hard day’s work.”

LPN Ellen Sherman (left) and medical lab technologist Kathleen Jackman are fighting to keep quality patient care at Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk, NY. NEW YORK

Proposed changes at Brooks Memorial will compromise care, say staff.

1199SEIU members at a small rural hospital in New York’s Southern Tier want to save their community hospital. Brooks Memorial, a 65-bed hospital in Dunkirk, like many hospitals around the country, is in financial trouble. Yet, even though 1199SEIU has a proven record of working with healthcare facilities to resolve problems during rough times, the administration has been attempting to balance the hospital budget on the backs of its dedicated employees.

“I treat folks as if they are family,” says Rosie Calph, a Brooks medical records clerk for 26 years. “I like dealing with people. And I don’t ask for much—just a fair wage for an honest day’s work, and the hope that the hospital does the right thing for our community.”

The Brooks Memorial administration has reorganized and affiliated with different entities in the last few years. Most recently, working with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), they have been looking at ways to boost revenue through outpatient clinics and services, including adding primary care capabilities outside the hospital walls and opening a “fast track” service to triage patients. Many believe that the ultimate goal is to halt inpatient care entirely and continue as an urgent care center instead.

Members of 1199SEIU at Brooks, totalling 175, are concerned that if inpatient services are reduced or eliminated, patients, many in crisis, will be forced to travel either an hour to Buffalo or an hour to Erie, PA on rural roads, often during long harsh winters.

While all this is in disarray, the hospital administrators have been stalling contract negotiations with the 175 members of 1199SEIU who keep the hospital operating by providing care and ensuring that the hospital is clean and safe. Brooks could not survive without these workers, yet some of the proposals put forward by management would change current staffing policies, and also put in jeopardy the workers’ livelihoods. If implemented, the proposals could have consequences for quality patient care, jobs and the local economy. Importantly, they violate unity among a community where everyone knows and cares about each other. In response to the hospital’s actions, the workers have launched a campaign called “We Care For Our Community.”

“Anything that happens at the hospital affects the entire community. Patients and workers are all family, friends and neighbors. When someone or something disrupts that family, we all suffer. Quality care can be compromised if we don’t have the resources needed to provide the excellent care that defines Brooks,” explains Crystal Ingram, a lab assistant and negotiating committee member. “The lifeblood of our community is put in jeopardy if that happens. That’s why this is a community campaign and we are all coming together.”

You can get the facts about the Brooks Memorial contract fight, hear worker stories and a radio ad, and sign a petition supporting Brooks Memorial workers by logging on to www.wecareforourcommunity.org.

OUR LEAGUE VICTORY:

WE NEVER BACKED DOWN

July/August 2014 • Our Life And Times

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Contracts

New agreement with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes preserves benefits, increases wages and creates organizing principles at ambulatory care centers.

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fter months-long negotiations that culminated in a weekend of marathon talks at a Manhattan hotel, 1199SEIU and the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes of New York on July 21 settled a new four-year collective bargaining agreement. The pre-dawn settlement averted a strike at 109 League-represented

institutions.

The pact runs from Oct. 2, 2014 until Sept.

30, 2018, and covers 70,000 workers. (Thousands more are covered under League-patterned “me-too” agreements.) It includes total wage increases of 13%. It includes employer contributions to fully fund the National Benefit Fund through Sept. 30, 2018, and full funding for other 1199SEIU Funds, including the Child Care, Job Security and Training and Upgrading Funds. Retirees will receive two $300 bonuses. Contributions to the National Pension Fund will remain at 11.25% through the contract’s end.

“I think we did really well,” said negotiating committee member Rosemarie Curley, a secretary II at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, NY. “This is one of the best contracts we’ve ever gotten and one of the hardest contracts we’ve ever negotiated because we had so much to lose. I’m so proud of our members. We came in not wanting to lose anything, and we got wages. We didn’t want to go on strike, but we were willing to if we had to. And in the end we didn’t have to. This is a testament to what we can do together.”

Contract negotiations opened in June, with the Union’s 500-member negotiating committee facing management proposals of co-payments and premiums for members’ health benefits. 1199ers backed those off the table with walk-ins, button up days and June 18 League-wide, one-day informational pickets. The pickets were a major show of Union strength, and tens of thousands of members took the streets. Members’ mantra became, “We don’t want to strike, but we will if we have to.”

“My daughter had a horrible allergic reaction to a medication and she was hospitalized for 57 days,” said mental health associate Carmen Bumburg as she marched in Mt. Sinai’s picket line. “I would not have gotten through that without my benefits. I would have had to sell my house. I could not have paid that bill.”

Another of the contract’s important features is the creation of organizing principles for ambulatory care centers, which are flourishing with changes in the healthcare industry. After the protection of health benefits, committee members saw the growth and protection of a stable

At a meeting at Manhattan’s Town Hall on July 10, 1199’s League negotiating committee voted unanimously to take a strike vote.

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July/August 2014 • Our Life And Times

Contracts

“ This is one of the best contracts we’ve ever gotten and one of the hardest contracts we’ve ever negotiated because we had so much to lose. I’m so proud of our members. This is a testament to what we can do together.”

— Rosemarie Curley, Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, NY.

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workforce with good jobs in these facilities as a critical negotiation point.

“We need to put every effort we can into these places and they all need to be 1199,” says Timothy Leahy, an RN at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Brooklyn.

“These negotiations set the tone for decades to come because of this issue. It’s important for the future of health care and the future of our union.”

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1. Carmel Richmond NH negotiating committee member Anna Perez, a CNA at Carmel Richmond Rehab on Staten Island, with her family. 2. and 3. Members at Mount Sinai and Lenox Hill cast their strike votes.

4. Yana Garuna, a committee member from NY Methodist in Brooklyn, makes a point July 10 Town Hall meeting. 5. and 6.

Members at Mount Sinai showed their strength at a June 13 info picket.

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At the contract’s signing, 1199SEIU Pres. George Gresham lauded the negotiating committee for their vision and drive in mobilizing 1199SEIU’s membership.

“We were able to create a movement around families and family values,” said Gresham.

He also paused to dedicate the contract to a beloved member of the 1199SEIU family—the late Basil Paterson. Paterson, who died in April, was a longtime advisor to 1199SEIU and saw the Union through many negotiations over the years.

“He would be proud of all that 1199 members and League employers accomplished today, and the respectful manner in which we reached this agreement,” said Gresham.

Negotiating committee member Josie Rivas says 1199SEIU’s members stood strong when it counted.

“This time management really played hard ball. They were adamant that we should pay for our benefits, but we knew we couldn’t open the door for that. We couldn’t go down that road and we didn’t,” says Rivas, a medical records clerk at Jamaica Hospital in Queens. “They tried to divide us and it didn’t work. We stuck together, and we won a great contract.”

At press time, a contract ratification vote was under way. Official results will be reported in the next issue of Our Life And Times.

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Elections

“ Being part of a politically engaged union is very important to me.”

1199ers Help Worker-Friendly Candidates Win 1199SEIU members up and down the East Coast are doing whatever it takes to pass progressive legislation for working people.

In addition to ensuring quality healthcare delivery and good jobs, members are working for the passage of living wage laws, the Dream Act, campaign finance reform and legislation to protect women and the LBGT community.

Taking these issues from goals to public policy and law requires the election of supportive candidates at the local, state and federal level. With that in mind, members are taking to the streets to support a number of candidates and ensure their election. Members are mobilizing as volunteers, phone banking, participating in online organizing and social media campaigns, doorknocking at members’ homes, text messaging, joining telephone town-halls, leafleting, and having one-on-one conversations and meetings.

In Florida, 1199SEIU members are putting their muscle behind Charlie Crist for Governor.

“Middle-class families across Florida deserve a fair shot at success,” says Crist. “It’s about giving working families the same opportunities and protections the big corporations have enjoyed under the current Governor.”

He recently walked a day in the shoes of 1199SEIU healthcare workers at the University of Miami Hospital and members at the institution pledged to support his run for Florida governor.

In July, 80 members of 1199SEIU in Massachusetts participated in a Political Leadership Academy, where they gathered to discuss how they can improve quality care in Massachusetts this upcoming election season, and help endorsed candidates win. A big member mobilization effort is underway, supporting Martha Coakley for Governor and Warren Tolman for

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State Attorney General.

In Maryland and New Jersey, members will have their boots on the ground for the November election. Member activism is the heart of 1199SEIU’s influence in the Maryland/DC region, and dedicated Member Political Organizers (MPOs) have had impressive roles in influencing voters to support legislation on marriage equality, the Maryland Dream Act, and raising Maryland’s minimum wage. Members will be following through on their June victories in the primary elections.

In the primary race for Maryland governor, Anthony Brown, won an impressive 51 percent of the vote against four opponents. He faces a well-funded Republican opponent in the fall, and 1199SEIU members will continue to support him through Election Day in November. 1199ers also helped to win the Democratic nomination for Brian Frosh for Maryland Attorney General. Frosh won despite polling that had his opponent, State Delegate Jon Cardin, in the lead.

New Jersey 1199SEIU members will be working to re-elect Senator Cory Booker and to win victories for several progressive Congressional candidates, including Aimee Belgard, Roy Cho, and Bonnie Watson Coleman. Member support was critical to Watson Coleman’s resounding June primary victory.

“Bonnie stands by us in every struggle. She has done everything side by side with us to ensure funding for New Jersey’s nursing homes and fair wages for workers,” says Paulette Johnson, a CNA. at Regency Heritage House Nursing Home in Somerset. “She is with us on picket lines and at rallies. If elected, she will be the first woman of color to represent New Jersey in Congress. We never stopped our work after the primary and are continuing to do what it takes to get our candidate elected in November.”

In New York State, 1199SEIU

members have made the Union a political powerhouse across the entire state. 1199ers are going to be putting that strength into ensuring a strong Democratic majority in the state legislature in order to clear the way for passage of legislation that has been blocked by Republicans.

Issues include: increased protection from assaults on frontline caregivers and a career ladder for homecare workers that will allow them to provide the best care to seniors and people with disabilities.

Members are also working to re-elect Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. In addition, the effort to push back the right-wing Tea Party will be seen in three key Congressional races in New York in the Democratic campaigns of Sean Patrick Maloney, Sean Eldridge and Aaron Woolf.

“Being a part of a politically engaged union is very important to me,” says Marilyn Green, a New York City home attendant. “It’s empowering to know that I am a part of an organization which maintains active and ongoing relationships with the elected officials who are writing the policies that impact my workplace.

I’m looking forward to phone banking and knocking on doors and to encourage my co-workers to vote for our endorsed candidates.”

The 400,000 members and retirees of 1199SEIU have always been highly engaged in electoral politics and governmental affairs, volunteering and voting in high numbers, and actively participating in their local communities, advocacy organizations, schools and places of worship.

“Our election work is not just about the candidates,” says 1199SEIU President George Gresham, “but also making sure that we live in country with good jobs and quality healthcare, where working families can thrive.”

Home care worker Donna Primo, a member of 1199SEIU for 36 years, canvassed for Rep. Nydia Velasquez in Brooklyn during June primary races.

“ I’m looking forward to phone banking and knocking on doors and to encourage my coworkers to vote for our endorsed candidates.”

— Marilyn Green, a New York City home attendant

Retiree Joanne Henry campaigned for Rep. Charlie Rangel in East Harlem in his Congressional primary this July.

Environment

1199SEIU TAKES ON CLIMATE CRISISDS

Join the People’s Climate March on Sept. 21 in New York City!

1199SEIU has taken a major step in the fight to protect our communities and planet from the catastrophic effects of climate change.

On June 20, the Union’s Executive Council voted unanimously to oppose the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and to support the Sept. 21 People’s Climate March in New York City, which promises to be the largest climate justice action in the nation’s history. At press time, more than 400 organizations had endorsed the action.

At the meeting, speakers made the case

that 1199SEIU had historically taken the lead on various social justice issues such as civil rights and peace. Global warming and protection of the climate, speakers argued, has emerged as one of the defining issue of our generation.

At the meeting, Sean Sweeney, director of Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute, debunked the arguments of the pipeline’s proponents, who falsely claim that the pipeline will create thousands of jobs and make us more energy independent while causing minimal environmental impact.

Noting that the majority of Canadian unions oppose the pipeline, Sweeney warned, “If the pipeline is built, that will mean game over.” Other scientists and global activists have made the same point, namely, construction of the pipeline moves us perilously closer to the global warming tipping point.

Another speaker at the June 20 meeting, Eddie Bautista, executive director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, stressed the importance of the march for the communities in which most New York City 1199ers live.

“We have been fighting for the cleanup of hazardous sites and against the placement of power plants and sanitation plants in our communities, and we’ve been winning. Our communities house the last of the city’s industrial neighborhoods,” he said.

Bautista and others have warned that while the desecration of the environment disproportionately affects working people and the poor, no one can escape its effects.

1199ers experienced that most acutely during and after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Respected earth scientists have determined that sea level rises, unusually warm sea surface temperatures and abnormal weather patterns caused by the

Arctic ice melt greatly intensified the storm. Some 1199ers in the superstorm’s path were doubly victimized as caregivers and homeowners.

Members on Staten Island and on the Jersey Shore worked tirelessly day and night. As did members at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital who cared for victims from the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, home to mostly workers and the poor.

Superstorm Sandy represented one of the most dramatic manifestations of the climate crisis, but all 1199ers are affected in a variety of ways.

“Miami Beach constantly floods during heavy rains and winds,” notes Stephen Sikora, a respiratory technologist at Blake Medical Hospital in Bradenton, Fl. He added that Miami Beach, lying just 10 feet above sea level, is one of the nation’s most vulnerable cities “Everything is integrated and connected, so I agree with our Union’s decision to make climate change a priority. This is a healthcare issue and it is our responsibility to speak up.”

In the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America, Maryland members have witnessed sea-level rises of .14 inches, more than twice the global average. That, combined with increased acidification and carbon, has destroyed or endangered many of the Bay’s species.

And in Syracuse, NY, snowfall has increased due to warming of the Great Lakes. Throughout the nation, wild fires, blizzards, floods and droughts continue to rise.

A DANGEROUS ALTERNATIVE

Some point to nuclear energy as an alternative to heat trapping fossil fuels such as carbon. But that, too, poses risks. “I don’t believe what the corporation heads tell us. I think nuclear power is more dangerous than what we’re led to believe,” says Lakaya Bates, an 1199SEIU childcare worker

“ This is a healthcare issue and it is our responsibility to speak up.”

— Steve Sikora, respiratory technologist, Blake Medical Center, Bradenton, FL

PEOPLE’S PEOPLE’S

NEW YORK CITY | SEPTember 21

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF THE SIERRA CLUB

CLIMATEMARCH MARCH CLIMATE NEW YORK CITY | SEPTember 21

at Graham Windham Services for Family and Children in New York’s Westchester County near the Indian Point nuclear power plant. 1199SEIU has joined environmentalists in calling for the shutdown of the plant.

The call for the People’s Climate March targets the oil, coal, gas and mining corporations that profit handsomely from the despoiling of the environment. Chief among the corporate profiteers are Charles and David Koch, who through the far-right American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Americans for Prosperity (AFP) oppose virtually all environmental regulations, including the Obama Administration’s ruling that reduces emission standards for existing power plants.

A central demand of the People’s March is the creation of millions of climate jobs to transition the U. S. economy away from fossil fuels.

In July, 1199SEIU issued a joint statement with the New York State Nurses Association vowing to mobilize thousands for the Sept. 21 Climate March and opposing the Keystone pipeline. The final paragraph reads: “We hope that this critical cause will serve as a larger opportunity to strengthen and expand the natural alliances between unions and the environmental movement. Together, we can stop this pipeline and build a sustainable vision of our future which includes a stable climate, green jobs, renewable fuels and a clean, healthy environment for all.”

You can sign up for the march by logging on to 1199SEIU.org/greenjustice. You can also get more information from your delegate or organizer.

Follow #peoplesclimatemarch on Twitter.

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Contracts

Groundbreaking Contract at University of Miami Hospital 1199ers lead the way in Florida by raising minimum wage to $10.10.

With millions of working families across the country advocating for Congress to pass proposed legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, members of 1199SEIU’s Florida region who work at University of Miami Hospital (UMH) are leading the way in partnership with UMH management by raising the hospital’s minimum wage to $10.10.

“It was great to get this contract, especially the $10.10,” said Jennifer Dolcine, a telemetry tech at UMH for five years. “The more we are together, the stronger we are. That’s what I love about our Union. People have a voice and aren’t afraid to speak up.”

In a ground-breaking agreement, UMH and 1199SEIU Florida members agreed to strengthen their labor management partnership with guaranteed across-the-board wage increases, including a $10.10 minimum wage that will increase annually over the course of the next three years. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, and the state minimum wage in Florida is $7.93.

“We are very proud to be part of University of Miami Hospital,” said Alma Georgia, a registered nurse at UMH. “This agreement definitely strengthens our path towards becoming a worldclass hospital by investing in all of the employees, from establishing a minimum wage to reinvesting in our joint Training & Education Fund which provides tuition assistance, college prep, GED, ESL and undergraduate/graduate education, and most importantly by strengthening our LaborManagement committees throughout the hospital to address quality care and staffing concerns.”

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Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist visited UMH recently to walk in the shoes of a healthcare worker and praised the work 1199SEIU Florida and UMH are doing together to set an example for the entire state and the country. Crist highlighted the importance of raising the minimum wage so that Floridians can better support their families, and in turn, strengthen Florida’s economy.

“Congratulations on getting $10.10 here at UMH,” said Crist. “And it’s important we not only have it here, but we have it statewide for the rest of our fellow Floridians as well.”

“ WE ARE VERY PROUD TO BE PART OF UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HOSPITAL. THIS AGREEMENT DEFINITELY STRENGTHENS OUR PATH TOWARDS BECOMING A WORLDCLASS HOSPITAL.” — Alma Georgia RN, University of Miami Hospital

Top: University of Miami members after ratifying their groundbreaking contract.

Bottom: RN Alma Georgia casts her vote for University of Miami’s recent contract.

OUR KIDS AT CAMP: THE NEW YORK YMCA CAMP IN HUGUENOT, NY Over the years, some of the benefits that 1199ers have won through incredible creativity and determination are the programs that help members take care of their children. Among them is the Anne Shore Camp Program.

Since it was founded in 1965, The Anne Shore program has been giving eligible members’ kids the opportunity to spend one to three weeks at sleep away camps throughout the Northeast every summer. The program includes camps for kids with special needs, camps that allow kids to go home on weekends, and camps geared towards special interests, like nature studies. The program is free and open to eligible members covered under the 1199SEIU National Benefit Fund and the Greater New York Child Care Fund. It serves hundreds of kids every summer. In July, Our Life And Times’ Director of Photography Jim Tynan visited some of the 1199SEIU kids the YMCA Camp in Huguenot, NY.

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1. Campers Davon Smith (at left) with his buddy, Nana Okrah, both 9.

2. Tiana Carter, 13, (left) works on an arts and crafts project with Dilandre Fender, also 13.

3. Garfield Duncan, Jr. 10, learned how to be a responsible camper at the YMCA camp this summer.

4. Andor Fisher (at left) hopes to land a big one, as 1199 camper Ajani Bailey, 10, looks on.

5. Kyle Grant-Coley (in glasses) and Jasmine Wenham (in pink striped shirt) start a campfire with counselors Sydney Bedford and Ruth Hammond.

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6. Sara Kone, 14, (left) and Lenae Wharton, 12, cool off with some water tubing.

Justice

SCOTUS V. WORKERS Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings continue the assault on the rights of working people.

“ No court case is going to stand in the way of home care workers coming together to have a strong voice for good jobs and quality home care.”

— Kilra Hylton, Massachusetts Personal Care Attendant

On June 30, the last day the U.S. Supreme Court’s most recent term, two rulings put the employment benefits of workers who are overwhelmingly women at risk. Much of the media attention went to what is known as the Hobby Lobby decision. That ruling declared that private, for-profit companies could use religious objections to avoid paying for contraception coverage required under the Affordable Care Act. The other case, Harris v. Quinn, didn’t get so much airtime. It’s about union fees paid by public home care workers employed by the state of Illinois. But the workers affected by Harris are mostly, although not exclusively, women.

And they feed and care for sick, frail and elderly people in their homes. Home care is the third fastest growing occupation in the country.

Nationally, more than nine out of ten home care workers are women and the majority is African American, Hispanic, and Asian.

Illinois is one of at least eight states where home care workers belong to a public sector union. Massachusetts, where home care workers are 1199SEIU members, is another. Since Massachusetts home care workers became 1199 members in 2006, they have seen minimum wages reach $13.38 per hour. They have paid time off and a training fund that provides upgrading and education opportunities for home care workers and their families.

The Harris case addressed the fact that in states where public home care workers are union members, all workers were required to pay “fair share fees” to the union. The plaintiff claimed that homecare workers employed in Medicaid-funded consumer-directed care programs in Illinois should not have to pay the “fair share” fee to the labor union representing the workers’ interests, if they are not union members. Even though the

fees cover the cost of negotiating better wages and benefits that are an advantage to everyone, the court’s decision ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

In the 5-4 opinion, the court ruled that the consumer-directed workers in Illinois are merely “partial public employees,” unlike “public school teachers or police officers who work directly for the government.” This means that the homecare workers cannot be compelled to pay the fees.

1199SEIU homecare workers have made it clear that they will keep up the fight to ensure that home care workers continue to advocate for quality home care regardless of the Harris decision.

“No court case is going to stand in the way of homecare workers coming together to have a strong voice for good jobs and quality home care,” says Massachusetts Personal Care Attendant Kilra Hylton.

The case was brought before the Supreme Court and funded by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an extreme anti-worker group that includes billionaires like Charles Koch and the Walton family. It is the latest in a decades-long attack on the rights of working people to join together to improve their jobs and the quality of services they provide.

“At a time when wages remain stagnant and income inequality is out of control, joining together in a union is the only proven way home care workers have of improving their lives and the lives of the people they care for,” says SEIU Pres. Mary Kay Henry. “The number of elderly Americans will increase dramatically in the coming years. States need to build a stable, qualified workforce to meet the growing need for home care—and having a strong union for home care workers is the only approach that has proven effective.”

— Kilra Hylton, Massachusetts Personal Care Attendant

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Our Union

Ruby Dee with her late husband Ossie Davis was a longtime friend of 1199SEIU. She was also a civil rights leader and brilliant actress who pushed artistic boundaries.

Remembering

Ruby Ruby Dee, one of our finest performers of the stage and screen, passed away at her home in New Rochelle, NY on June 12. She was 91.

But for 1199ers, Dee was far more than an icon of movies and Broadway. She was family.

For more than a half century Dee, together with her husband, the late actor Ossie Davis, supported 1199ers on picket lines, at rallies and demonstrations and at other Union events.

For decades Davis and Dee chaired 1199’s annual Black History Month Salute to Freedom and helped bring to the Union figures like Dr. King, Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder and many others.

In 1998, Dee and Davis publish a memoir, “With Ossie and Ruby” in which Davis said the couple’s connection with 1199SEIU had been “one of the most fruitful and rewarding associations of our lives.”

Harold Dow interviewed Dee in 2000 for the Archive of American Television. Dee told him there wasn’t a time in her life when she wasn’t an activist; she began walking picket lines as a child to protest hiring discrimination.

“I never remember, like saying, ‘I’m gonna join the Civil Rights Movement.’ That’s all I knew, all my life, some aspect of it, even before it was called the Civil Rights Movement,” she said.

The movement has lost one of its great models, says Tyrone Williams, a delegate from Isabella Geriatric Center in Manhattan.

“Her awareness is what our struggle is all about. It was really immeasurable. It was completely in her heart and in her mind. She and Ossie understood working people who are trying to make ends meet,” says Williams. “They understood very clearly that 1199 is trying to improve life for every family and they supported us in everything we did.”

Dee brought the same passion to her stagecraft as she did to her politics. Arguably, her most famous performance was in the 1961 film version of the drama “A Raisin in the Sun.” Dee brought to life the haunting depth, brilliance and painful reality of the character Ruth Younger.

“I’ve watched that over and over,” says delegate Elaine Daley. “I’m an actress and that performance gives me the ability to hear more in everything.”

Daley is walking the path that Dee forged as an artist.

“Ruby was at a production I was in,” says Daley, a telephone operator at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. “I hadn’t broken character when I saw her, and afterwards she told me that was the sign of a good actress. Her advice gave

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“ Women, particularly African-Americans, drew strength from her work, including her acting and writing.”

— Barbara Jeter, senior chemistry technologist, Harlem Hospital Top: Ruby Dee, when she and husband Ossie Davis were honored by the Kennedy Center in 2004. Bottom: With Davis, left, in a 1962 production of Davis’ award-winning musical, Purlie Victorious. me the courage to continue pursuing what I love.

Ruby was a strong and approachable woman.

She grabbed me by the shoulders when she was talking to me and looked me right in the eyes. I want to be like her.”

“She was a phenomenal woman who made us all proud,” says Barbara Jeter, a Harlem Hospital senior chemistry technologist and longtime Union delegate. “Women, particularly African Americans, drew strength from her work, including her acting and writing. But we in 1199 felt a special bond because she was so close to us. She dedicated her life to the things that we believe in.”

THE BACK PAGE

Campers Aim For Another Great Summer Since 1965, the Union’s Anne Shore Camp Program has been sending eligible members’ children on free one-to-three week stays at sleep away camps throughout the Northeast. In July, 1199SEIU’s Director of Photography visited with some of the 150 Union kids who this summer attended the YMCA Camp in Huguenot, NY through the Anne Shore Program. Among them was Nicole Djalo, 12, who is shown taking an archery class. See story on pages 12 and 13.

Photo by Jim Tynan