Our Life & Times | January / February 2016

8 12 A BLACK HISTORY MONTH PULLOUT POSTER

MAKING CLIMATE JUSTICE A REALITY

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A TAX BREAK THAT ISN’T FOR RICH PEOPLE

A JOURNAL OF 1199SEIU January/February 2016

SPEAKING OUT AGAINST HATE Muslim members fight right wing attacks.

Story on page 10.

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January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

Maha Hatib is a respiratory therapist at NYU Langone Lutheran Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. Her PalestinianAmerican parents came to the U.S. from Jordan.

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President’s Column Fighting those who would undo our progress is truly the best way to honor Black History Month—in February and throughout the year.

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In The Regions Members at Alice Hyde hold holiday food drive; Santa visits 1199 kids in NYC and Baltimore; NH staffing bill passes NJ legislature; Members lobby Congress to preserve health care and medical education funding.

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The Fight For $15 Homecare workers will not be left behind in the Fight For $15.

Our Life and Times January/February 2016

Editorial

REJECTING HATRED From its inception, our Union has championed justice, equality and democracy for all.

Article 1, Section 3 of the 1199SEIU Constitution states: (a) To organize and unite all workers within its jurisdiction without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, national origin, political belief or affiliation. (d) To educate the workers in trade union principles; to unite and empower the workers to achieve social and economic justice; to maintain, preserve and extend the

democratic processes and institutions of our country; to advance, defend and protect civil liberties and civil rights; to eliminate all forms of discrimination and racism; and to aid in the adoption of legislation in the best interests of its members and the people generally.

We would do well to remember these principles whenever bigoted and intolerant elected officials attempt to blind and mislead us with their divisive hatred.

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Celebrating Black History Month Special pullout poster.

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Muslim 1199ers Speak Out Members push back against right-wing Islamophobia and fearmongering.

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Workers Are Central To Climate Justice 1199ers help meet the challenge.

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The Earned Income Tax Credit Use the EITC to get your full tax refund.

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Why I Do What I Do Belinda Blanck is an RN at Crouse Memorial Hospital in Syracuse, NY.

Our Life And Times, January/February 2016 ISSN 1080-3089 Vol 34, No 1 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 secretary treasurer

Maria Castaneda senior executive vice presidents

Yvonne Armstrong Veronica Turner-Biggs executive vice presidents

director of photography

Jim Tynan photographer

Belinda Gallegos art direction

& design Maiarelli Studio cover photograph

Jim Tynan contributors

Mindy Berman Regina Heimbruch JJ Johnson Bryn Lloyd-Bollard Ivettza Sanchez 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.

@1199seiu www.1199seiu.org

LUBA LUKOVA

Jacqueline Alleyne Norma Amsterdam Lisa Brown Angela Doyle George Kennedy Steve Kramer Tyrek Lee Joyce Neil Bruce Richard Mike Rifkin Monica Russo Rona Shapiro Neva Shillingford Milly Silva Gregory Speller Laurie Vallone Estela Vazquez

editor

Patricia Kenney

Muslim is the New Black January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

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Letters HILLARY IS THE RIGHT CHOICE ur Union has made the right choice in supporting Hillary Clinton in the Presidential Election. If we want a competent, strong leader, Hillary is our candidate. If we want somebody who has been there before in the role of national leadership, Hillary is definitely our candidate. I have been a big Clinton supporter and have watched her since she was First Lady, then as the Senator from New York and as Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, she made our country look strong and met with heads of state from around the world. She was a great support to Pres. Obama in repairing our damaged reputation and opening up lines of communication with many countries.

As part of the Clinton Foundation she has raised a lot of money that’s gone to help women and children all over the world. If we want peace and prosperity, Hillary is our girl.

She will fight for us from Day One. I believe that Sen. Sanders has good ideas, but we aren’t going to get anywhere just with good ideas. We know that Hillary isn’t perfect, but we need someone who can deliver.

We need to be realistic about the political situation in this country. It’s clear that Hillary understands how things work and until we get our ducks in a row politically and deal with the far-right wing Republicans in Congress, we won’t be able to get anything done; Hillary is the one who can do that.

The truth is that we need someone moderate. Our country isn’t ready for big change all at one time. A lot of people forget that Hillary is the one who started the movement that became Obamacare. You may like what Bernie Sanders has to say, but his ideas won’t get anywhere in Congress or the White House. We need someone with a realistic plan and vision for our country and Hillary is the one.

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MARCIA RIDGELL RN, West Boca Medical Center, Boca Raton, FL

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BERNIE SANDERS REFLECTS OUR VALUES e live in a city where people of color are arrested and can be killed for selling loose cigarettes while in this same city the most corrupt thieves on Wall Street walk away from their crimes scott-free. We need a president who will stand up to the greedy crooks who are suffocating our democracy and creating immense poverty while destroying the middle class, and threatening the Earth’s life support system.

How can we expect Hillary Clinton to be that person when Wall Street is contributing millions to her campaign?

Bernie Sanders won’t take Super PAC money. He will fight corporate greed and work for economic justice for the 99%.

While Hillary was on the Wal-Mart board of directors, Bernie was walking picket lines for labor and civil rights.

He will work to end police violence against people of color.

Bernie has stood firm in supporting the fight for a $15 minimum wage; Hillary says the Federal Minimum Wage should be only $12.

Even though our union supports SEIU’s endorsement of Hillary, many organizations which share 1199’s values have endorsed Bernie Sanders: the Working Families Party, the Communication Workers of America, National Nurses United and the American Postal Workers Union.

Unelectable? Recent polls show that he will win by larger margins than Hillary against any of the top Republican candidates. In 2008, people said that Barack Obama was not electable, that this nation was not ready to elect an AfricanAmerican president. We accomplished that, and we can do even greater things like ending the rule of greed. Electing Bernie Sanders would be a giant step in that direction.

Together with a President Sanders, we would be able to make major contributions to the work we all do for social, racial, and economic justice HYMAN BAKER, MONNIE CALLAN, MINDY GERSHON, EDDIE KAY, PATRICK LOMAN, CHARLIE MCLAUGHLIN, ALICIA MOBLEY, JANET MOORE, JIMMY MOORER, WHILAMAE MOORER, STANLEY NIMARK, DAN NORTH, RAMON RODRIGUEZ, CAROLE SHREEFTER, ERIC SHTOB, NETTIE SHULMAN, DOROTHY SMITH, JEAN TURNER-KELLY, JEFF VOGEL 1199SEIU Retiree Div. Members, New York City metropolitan area Let’s hear from you. Send your letters to: 1199SEIU’s Our Life And Times, 330 W. 42nd St, 7th Fl., New York, NY 10036 Attn: Patricia Kenney, Editor, or email them to Patriciak@1199.org and please put Letters in the subject of your email.

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January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN George Gresham

America’s History is Black History We must mobilize against attacks on our legacy and our progress.

This Black History Month is the final such observation of the Obama Presidency. We 1199ers should never forget that it was eight years ago that our Union became an early endorser of Barack Obama’s longshot campaign, and that our thousands of member volunteers fanned out across the country to become the frontline ground troops for his historic victory.

The night the new President-elect, together with his wife and young daughters, appeared in Chicago’s Grant Park to declare victory, is a moment we will remember for the rest of our days. The election of an African-American President of the United States—with the name Barack Hussein Obama, no less—was truly a great historical achievement.

We were filled with optimism for the new President, though we knew better than to believe the pronouncements in the media that this was now to be a “post-racial” society. A single election cycle hardly erased 400 years of chattel slavery; the era of Jim Crow laws—America’s apartheid—and lynching, racism and discrimination against Black people. We also can’t forget the Native American genocide that killed off 90 percent of their population and the theft of half of Mexico that now forms our Western and Southwestern states.

Today, it is at least a year too early to take the full measure of the Obama Presidency or to balance his great accomplishments with where he fell short. No one person, even one as intelligent, level-headed and humane as our President, can overcome systemic problems like poverty and inequality. To change the system takes people power.

Most of the progressive challenges of the past eight years—raising the minimum wage, challenging income inequality, climate change (including canceling the XL Pipeline), police abuse and violence, and establishing marriage equality—became part of the political conversation because folks mobilized in the streets to make it so. We in 1199 are proud of our contributions to these struggles.

But it can safely be said that never in our lifetimes has there been such a ferocious attempt by a party out of power to sabotage a president.

From day one, a coordinated eight-year-long effort by the Republican Party and its Tea Party shock troops—underwritten by the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson and their fellow retrograde billionaires—has sought to demean and destroy the president. This has of course been ideological and in protection of vested economic interests.

But it cannot be fully understood without accounting for racist fears of a Black man in the White House. The increasingly open appeal to racism on the part of the Republican leadership has come to full flower in the current GOP race for a candidate to replace President Obama. Led in the first place by Donald Trump, they are echoed in one form or another by the other Republican candidates. These are crude hate-filled attacks on African-Americans, working people, immigrants (especially those from Mexico and Latin America), women, and Muslims; they tell us all we need to know about what is at stake in the November elections.

The importance of this year’s vote for working people cannot be overstated. Everything we hold dear, everything we’ve ever fought for and won, is at stake—healthcare coverage, our jobs, union rights, wages, pensions, civil rights and liberties, reproductive rights, safety in our homes and communities, immigrant rights, the right to clean air and clean water, and much, much more. All have come under a sustained year-long attack in the Republican political campaign.

So, sisters and brothers, get ready for the fight of our lives. So many thousands of our union members helped turn the tide for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. If anything, we must be even more determined to elect the Democratic candidate for President in November. We are fully confident in our knowledge that, once again, you are ready to make history.

InTheRegions

Alice Hyde Members Hold Holiday Food Drive

Members from The Heart Center in Poughkeepsie, NY ratified their new contract on Dec. 22.

In Contract News In Massachusetts, 1199SEIU nursing home workers at Tower Hill, Academy Manor, Wakefield Center, and Eagle Pond Nursing Homes have all either reached tentative agreements or ratified new contracts over last few months. CNAs at Academy Manor and CNAs and cooks at Wakefield Center won $15.00 an hour in their new agreement. All the new contracts provide significant wage increases, gain or maintain access to the Training and Upgrading Fund, and securing many more benefits.

Caregivers at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in November unanimously ratified a new 18 month agreement.

Highlights include an average of 4% wage growth for all workers in the bargaining unit, improved language on tuition reimbursement, no increase in healthcare premiums, and a decrease in premiums for dental insurance.

In New York State, healthcare workers at Nyack Hospital settled a stellar contract this winter after a long battle. The new contract was ratified December 22 and includes a 2.5% wage increase retroactive from October 1. It also includes annual wage increases of 3% through 2017 and a 2% increase for 2018.

Nyack Hospital will also make the appropriate contributions to our benefit fund, so workers can maintain no-cost healthcare.

“Our committee said from the very beginning that no healthcare worker should have to make an agonizing decision about whether to buy groceries or get the prescription they need,” says Chantal Fleury, medical tech and chair of 1199SEIU’s negotiations committee.

Technicians at HealthQuest’s Hudson Valley Cardiovascular Practice

(The Heart Center) in Poughkeepsie voted to become 1199SEIU members in June. On Dec. 22, they ratified their first contract and joined hundreds of 1199 members at nearby Vassar Brothers Medical Center in a multiemployer contract. The contract includes provisions that will give them a voice to address issues such as staffing, patient care, job safety and other workplace policies. Heart Center members also have 1199’s affordable healthcare benefits, as well as childcare and education & training opportunities.

“We were very excited to learn that we had won our election to join 1199SEIU,” said Amy Jordan, a Cardiac Echo Tech who has been with the Heart Center for nine years. “We work for a very good employer, but it’s an employer that has undergone some changes that made forming our union imperative. We’re looking forward to having a voice in our working conditions, patient care, and our future. Now, we can retire from the Heart Center one day knowing that we will have a pension for life.”

NEW YORK

Braving a Blizzard to Care for Her Patients “When I got out of work Saturday morning, it was already snowing heavily,” says Chantelle Diabate, a LPN at Hebrew Home in the Bronx, NY. Winter Storm Jonas had already battered much of the east coast and dropped several feet of snow in areas from Virginia to Massachusetts.

As the first blizzard of 2016 bore down on the northeast causing power outages, flight cancellations and school closures, Diabate, like so many 1199ers throughout the storm-affected regions, didn’t let the snow get in the way of caring for her patients.

Once she found out public transportation in New York City was being shut down on that Saturday because of the storm, Diabate, a single

The NY Daily News was one paper that featured 1199er Chantelle Diabate’s bravery during January’s blizzard.

Members at Alice Hyde Medical Center located in Malone, NY, held a holiday season food drive from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15 and collected enough donations to help stock several area food pantries. The local Elks Lodge also participated in the effort as a way of attracting younger people to the organization. Malone is located in northeastern New York State’s Franklin County, one of the state’s poorer counties; poverty rates in Franklin Co. exceed statewide averages in almost every category.

Alice Hyde Delegate Chair Ann Hall, who has been an OR supply coordinator at the hospital for 15 years, said the food drive was a way of bringing the community together and lending a hand to neighbors at the same time.

“A lot of Alice Hyde 1199 members have relatives who are Elks Club members. It used to be an organization just for men, but it’s not any more. We do much more. We also have very harsh winters up here. Sometimes people can’t afford heat and other things,” says Hall. “So we thought this would be a good opportunity to make sure families don’t go hungry and to put food in kids’ bellies. Many people don’t go to our local food pantries because they’re too proud, but we want to let them know the community is here for them. They supported us when we went on strike and now we are here for them.”

Hall’s car was packed to the brim with donations of canned goods and essentials like jars of baby food, she says. “I was really touched and surprised. Everyone tightened their belt so they could give something at holiday time.

This showed how much people at Alice Hyde care about others.”

mom, arranged for a friend to take care of her three-year-old daughter. She headed to stay with another friend in the Bronx so she could more easily get to work. Later that evening, during the worst of Storm Jonas, she made the oneand-a-half mile walk back to Hebrew Home. It took her an hour-and-a-half.

She says she figured that other people may have problems making it to work that evening, and was concerned about her residents.

“I’m going to do it. I’m going to make it. I love my patients,” she says became her mantra during the treacherous walk through heavy winds and on slippery sidewalks.

The thought of calling in sick briefly crossed her mind, she says, but it was quickly eclipsed by love and concern for her patients “I love the geriatric community,” she says. “They make me laugh. They are full of life. They make me happy.”

January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

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Members Honor Dr. King with the Fight for a Living Wage Around the 1199SEIU Regions, members celebrated the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by continuing their fight for economic justice and the Fight For $15. In Rochester, for the 35th consecutive year, members from Strong Memorial Hospital held their annual celebration of the life of Dr. King. On Jan. 18, under the banner of “Fighting for Economic Justice,” members presented a program of poetry, dance, song and spoken word, all of which centered on The Fight For $15 and the need for economic equality.

“Most people remember Martin Luther King, Jr. as a hero in the fight against racial justice, but what is often forgotten is that he was also a warrior against economic injustice,” said Mandel Mais, an environmental worker at Strong.

“Like Martin Luther King, Jr, I believe that economic equality is an issue that needs to be exposed on a national scale, said Jerald Drain, an environmental services worker and the Union chair at Strong, who introduced the event’s keynote speaker New York State’s Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.“The Fight for $15 is a movement designed to do just that. Everyone deserves the

dignity of being paid a fair wage for an honest day’s work.”

In New York City, hundreds of 1199SEIU members marched through Harlem, starting with a rally that began at the headquarters of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Icy gusts and single digit temperatures didn’t tamp down the march’s fiery energy as it made its way down Adam Clayton Powell Blvd; a brass band played, stilt walkers carried Fight For $15 signs high above the crowd and participants chanted ‘What Do We Want? $15 When Do We Want It? Now!” “Fifteen dollars would help us tremendously to get out of poverty,” said Karlyne Mills, a home health aide with New York City’s Partners In Care Agency.

“Sometimes people have to work two jobs just to make ends meet.”

And in Massachusetts, hundreds marched in frigid temperatures in a March For Justice. Organized by the #FightFor15 Coalition, 1199ers joined Logan Airport Workers, fast food workers, school bus drivers and numerous other unions, community groups and coalition partners in standing up for economic and racial justice.

“ Most people remember Martin Luther King, Jr. as a hero in the fight against racial justice, but what is often forgotten is that he was also a warrior against economic injustice.”

Hundreds of 1199SEIU members and coalition partners braved single-digit temperatures and icy gusts at a Jan. 18 MLK Day march through Harlem.

NJ 1199ers Lead Fight for Compassionate Nursing Homes Staffing Levels Short staffing is a common problem in nursing homes. New Jersey 1199SEIU members are organizing to do something about it. In 2015, the union launched a statewide movement to demand better staffing levels and pass a bill that would establish minimum CNA-patient ratios.

To build momentum for their campaign, members hosted town hall meetings, made several trips to the state capitol to meet with legislators, and spoke with press at every opportunity. Members told personal and often heart-wrenching stories about what it’s like to care for residents while working in understaffed environments.

Josefina Jimenez, a CNA from Passaic, NJ, recalled a night when she was responsible for caring for 50 patients all by herself. “One of my residents was close to dying, and because I wanted to comfort her in her final moments because she did not have anyone else,” she says.

“But because I was so overwhelmed with my other responsibilities, by the time I made it to her room, she had already passed away. It was heartbreaking.”

Ella Moton, a CNA from Jersey City, NJ, testified in support of the staffing bill at a state

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January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

Assembly hearing in December. In her testimony, she spoke about some of her most memorable patients from her 15 years as a caregiver.

“Our residents have lived extraordinary lives as doctors, teachers, janitors, and others who have contributed to our society,” she said. “One of my former residents was a Tuskegee airman, and it was an honor to care for him after everything he did for our country. Someone like him should never have to sit alone in the corner all by himself because there aren’t enough nursing assistants to give him compassionate care.”

By publicly sharing their stories, Jimenez and Moton played an instrumental role in building support for the staffing bill, which was passed by both houses of state legislature by significant margins in January. Despite the overwhelming support that 1199 received from state leaders, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, vetoed the bill when it reached his desk.

The Governor’s veto didn’t thwart members’ determination to push forward. 1199ers are redoubling their efforts to build on the progress they’ve made in bringing the issue of nursing home staffing to the forefront of political discussion in the Garden State. Members have vowed to win a staffing bill in the near future.

1199ers traveled to Washington, DC in December for two days of lobbying at the U.S. Congress. They spoke with state representatives and senators, including Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts (shown above), about the importance of keeping in the federal budget funding for Medicare, Medicaid and education for healthcare providers. “The more they cut, the more people it affects—and more is on the backs of workers,” said Tamara Elzubair of Albany County NH. “There are plenty of ways to balance a budget without going to the same well every time. We can be smart about it so people don’t suffer.”

InTheRegions

NEW YORK

Finger Lakes Region 1199ers Threatened by Dangerous Gas Storage Plan 1199ers in New York State’s Central New York District continue to work with broad swaths of the community to prevent the storage of hazardous liquefied petroleum gases (LPG)— by-products of the hydraulic fracturing of rocks (fracking)—along the shores of and beneath Seneca Lake in Schuyler County.

Crestwood Midstream, a Texasbased energy corporation, plans to store the gases in massive unlined and unstable salt caverns a few miles north of Watkins Glen.

The Seneca Lake region is renowned for its natural beauty, tourism, vineyards, and for the fishing, boating and swimming in its pristine waters. The lake also is the source of drinking water for some 100,000 residents in the region.

Over the last five years, Gas Free Seneca and, more recently, We Are Seneca Lake have led the campaign to convince the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to deny Crestwood an operating permit.

Gas Free Seneca warns that

Santa Pays a Special Visit To 1199

Crestwood seeks “to turn the Finger Lakes into a fracked gas transportation and storage hub for the entire Northeast.”

The organization also notes that salt caverns are especially prone to catastrophic accidents. It adds, “Our intention is to direct the future of our community down sustainable, renewable pathways.”

Towards that end, We Are Seneca Lake has trained over 1,000 people, many from the Watkins Glen area at the southern tip of the Lake, in peaceful civil disobedience. 1199ers are among the more than 450 citizen activists who have been arrested during protests at the site.

The protests have the support of 1199SEIU’s highest body, its executive council, which voted unanimously last July to oppose the construction and operation of the gas storage facility.

The vote was consistent with the Union’s long history of support for climate justice. In 2014, for example, the council voted to deny fracking permits in New York State.

“I’m extremely concerned about

fracking,” says Kaye Jaeger, an RN at Syracuse’s Crouse Hospital and a former executive council member. “I’m also concerned about protecting our water table.”

“We can’t give in to these powerful companies who put the bottom line ahead of the welfare of the people,” Jaeger emphasizes.

Opposition to the storage plans is widespread, bringing together residents, the environmental community and business interests, particularly the wine and tourist industries. Gas Free Seneca is doing much of the work along these lines. At press time, at least 31 legislative bodies in the region had passed resolutions opposing the project.

Unfortunately, Crestwood, aware of the dearth of good union jobs in the region, has gained the support of some unions.

“That is a false choice,” Jaeger says. “We shouldn’t trade our health for jobs.”

For information, log onto http://www.wearesenecalake.com and www.gasfreeseneca.com.

Members’ kids in Baltimore and homecare families in New York City got a special treat in December when Santa paid a visit to the Union’s headquarters in their regions. The Jolly Old Elf himself distributed toys collected at 1199SEIU’s holiday party for delegates, which was held in Manhattan on Dec. 18. Little ones as young as one year sat with Santa. He gave them presents, took photos and of course, listened to what they wanted for Christmas. Janet Lopez, a home health aide with the Sunnyside Agency in New York City, brought her daughter Isabel and granddaughters Adriana, 5, and Annalise, 4 months. “It’s so wonderful.

This is what 1199 is all about,” said Lopez. “I can spend time with my family and with my 1199 family.

That is the spirit of the holiday.”

January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

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Fight For $15

On the Frontlines of the

Fight For $15 Homecare workers will make sure they aren’t left behind.

Homecare members of 1199SEIU flexed their political muscles last year, as they took part in major actions against the growing inequality that threatens the well being of millions as well as our democracy.

“I took part in many actions last year because I want to continue to take care of people who need me,” says Alimamy Bakarr Barrie, a home health aide at Stella Orton Home Care Agency in Staten Island.

Barrie, who was born and raised in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, says he wants dearly to continue his work, but that it becomes increasingly difficult to do so while earning just $10 an hour.

His pay is typical for an industry in which some 90 percent of the workforce is female. A large percentage of those women are also immigrants. And many are heads of their households.

Barrie lives in Staten Island with his wife and five children.

The oldest is 25 and the youngest, nine. He wants more for his wife and children.

“I’ve marched right here in Staten Island,” he proudly declares.

“And I’ve gone to Manhattan, Albany and even Baltimore to fight for the $15 minimum.”

At each action, Barrie stresses the importance of his work. “I don’t believe that nothing is as important as taking care of others,” he says.

“But it is also difficult giving clients the help that they need.”

Statistics show that the job of a home health aide is one of the nation’s most dangerous as well as one that is the most poorly compensated. Homecare also is the fastest growing sector of the healthcare industry, and its growth will continue apace as baby boomers continue to retire.

“I believe our elders and others like our military veterans who’ve sacrificed their lives for our country deserve the very best of care,” Barrie stresses. “We are the first line of care for them. And I

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January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

don’t mean helping with just the usual like hygiene, housekeeping, but also helping with physical, social and emotional pain.

“I have taken care of military veterans who were in extreme emotional pain. It’s gratifying for me to help to comfort them and even help talk them back to some happiness.”

Barrie, points out, as does so many other homecare workers, that he spends far more time with patients than their families often do. “In fact, we spend more time with them than anyone else in the healthcare industry. Doctors usually don’t spend much time with them and neither do nurses.

We work eight, 12 hours and often sleep in clients’ homes.”

Unfortunately, the work and commitment of the aides is unappreciated, Barrie believes.

“We may be good Samaritans with great passion, but often the loved ones of our clients feel we don’t do enough.”

Barrie acknowledges that others in the industry also need help. The $15 minimum wage would also help some workers in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and pharmacies. It also would strengthen the economy and help address economic inequality in New York, one of the most unequal states in the country.

“We do so much, yet are paid so little,” Barrie says. “With today’s cost of living, especially in New York, it is so hard to survive. Even $15 an hour is not enough, but I know it is an important first step.”

But Barrie also understands that the legislators in the statehouses and in Washington will determine his and other homecare workers’ fate. “I know our Union is fighting to change this. And I know they need each of us to be active,” he says.

“I will continue doing my work and give my love to my patients, but I will also continue to go forward in the fight for $15 until our leaders hear us and answer our call.”

Hundreds of 1199 homecare, nursing home and hospital workers marched through Harlem in NYC on MLK Day, demanding a $15 minimum wage for every worker in NYS.

Statistics show that the job of a home health aide is one of the nation’s most dangerous as well as one that is the most poorly compensated.

INEQUALIT Y January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

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January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

“The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1199 honors Black History by continuing the fight for racial, social and economic justice.

Justice

MUSLIM MEMBERS: SPEAKING OUT AGAINST RIGHT WING

HATRED “We have so many more important things to talk about: health care, immigration—but they focus on us because we’re an easy target.”

In 2015 there were at least 355 mass shootings in the United States; three of them were committed by persons claiming adherence to the Muslim faith. Yet, Islam is under fierce attack. Donald Trump and Chris Christie are calling for bans, travel restrictions and the surveillance of mosques; post-9/11 racism and Islamophobia are at fever pitch.

“It’s awful what Trump is saying.

It’s like he wants us to wear stars on our clothing,” says Rodney Muhammed, a biomedical technologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, MA. “I can’t believe this type of stereotyping exists today in our country.”

Muhammed emigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad in 1989. He went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and now lives in Brockton. He and his wife have two daughters, ages two and six. Muhammed worries about what his little girls hear about their faith.

“When we go to the mosque the Imam tells us that we have to show them that terrorism is not part of Islam. I think about their future. I think about if I were going for a job today, I’d have to be concerned about my last name,” he says. “How will this

January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

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ROSE LINCOLN

There are 69 U.S.-based groups whose work either directly or indirectly spreads Islamophobia and hatred of Muslims; between 2008 and 2011 these groups had total revenue of $119,662,179.

Rodney Muhammed, a biomedical technologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, MA. affect my kids? What will it be like for them?”

According to CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, there are 69 U.S-based groups whose work either directly or indirectly spreads Islamophobia and hatred of Muslims.

Between 2008 and 2011 these groups had total revenue of $119,662,179, much of it raised from wealthy individuals and organizations like The Center for American Progress. The money went to big salaries for administrators, SuperPACs supporting right wing politicians and the production and promotion of anti-Muslim literature, films and other media.

“Islamophobia has always been with us, but it really flourished after 9/11,” says Dr. Fiazuddin Shuayb, president of the Jawda Institute, an Islamic education and cultural organization based in New York City.

“We saw a rise in attacks on mosques and the event gave birth to a whole industry spreading hate about Islam and people of the Muslim faith.”

“There are extremists in every religion,” says Maha Katib, a respiratory therapist at NYU Lutheran Hospital in

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Brooklyn, NY. “But now, any channel you turn on there’s someone talking about Muslim extremists. It’s really unfortunate.

There are so many other important things going on in the world and this is what the media is focusing on? It just isn’t reality.

There are Muslims all over the world. We are the people standing right beside you.

I’m right here.”

Katib was born in New York City to Palestinian parents who emigrated to the U.S. from Jordan. She and her husband, who is Jordanian, have three teenaged children.

“With the media you only see half the story of Muslims. You only know what they want you to know.

I’m used to it. They don’t talk about Palestinian refugees or people starving in Syria. Or what’s really happening to Muslim refugees in the Middle East.

It’s inhuman,” says Katib. “Knowing this is going on and people are dying, I wonder how people like Trump can get up there and say these things without any feelings or emotion. Our emotions are what separate us from the animals.”

Solidarity with allies is important in pushing back against stereotyping and the proliferation of racism directed

January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

at Muslims, says Katib. 1199’s work on this front includes the activities of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus (AAPI). In August, 1199 Sec. Treas.

Maria Castaneda condemned all hate speech after Jeb Bush’s “anchor baby” remark. More broadly, SEIU API members from locals around the country have demonstrated against this rise of intolerance and the targeting of Muslims.

“We come together. It’s wonderful.

Islam means peace. It’s a way of life and teaches you to do good things,” says Bibi Habib, a program administrator in 1199’s National Benefit Fund and active Caucus member who is originally from Guyana.

Allies also need to speak up—loudly and often—on behalf of the Muslim community,” says Rodney Muhammed.

“I find it amazing how Donald Trump keeps getting a platform to spread hatred of Muslims, yet no one talks about how he’s very happy to do business the Saudis,” says Muhammed.

“We have so many more important things to talk about: healthcare, immigration—but they focus on us because we’re an easy target. I feel bad that we have to live as second class citizens. All we want is a normal life.”

At home in New Jersey: Maha Hatib, a respiratory therapist at NYU Langone Lutheran Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, with her children (from left), Lena, 18, Ahmad, 14, and Danya, 15.

REGINA HEIMBRUCH ILLUSTRATION

1199ers Are Helping

to Meet Climate Challenge Healthcare workers are key to reducing emissions.

Last December at the 21st Annual UN Climate Change Conference (a.k.a. Climate of the Parties or COP21), some 200 nations reached a commitment to limit global temperature increases.

The agreement represented the most significant step in the fight to reduce global warming.

But participants at the Conference, from President Barack Obama to environmental leaders such as Bill McKibben—founder of 350.org—acknowledge that the proposed cuts much go further if we are to avoid catastrophic global warming.

At the COP21, 1199SEIU Secretary Treasurer Maria Castañeda addressed a panel that examined the role of healthcare workers in combating climate change.

Castañeda spoke of the Union’s long history of support for legislation, pro-environment candidates and measures to address the dangerous effects of climate change.

January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

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Environmental Justice

Montefiore is in the process of installing two roof gardens, which will help to reduce flooding, clean the surrounding air and provide other benefits.

She also spoke about 1199ers on the frontlines of initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing energy use and waste.

Hospitals that operate round the clock every day of the year are major emitters of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The Hippocratic oath to “first do no harm,” means that healthcare institutions and workers have a responsibility to eliminate practices that harm people and the environment. Thus, healthcare institutions are exploring ways to reduce energy use and waste, and incorporate more sustainable environmental practices.

“I assist in implementing all sustainability programs throughout the hospital,” says Michael Matos, the Green Initiative Liaison at Montefiore Health System in the Bronx.

Matos works closely with Montefiore’s energy and sustainability manager, Jeffrey Hogan, in one of the nation’s most successful healthcare greening initiatives. The hospital also has introduced energy conservation measures, including more efficient lighting and machinery.

“My responsibilities include educating all hospital employees on green programs and practices, and then providing support for implementation,” Matos notes.

“A main focus of my work is to make co-workers aware of the their role,” Matos says. “Their biggest role is waste segregation. Each worker and department plays a huge role in our success.”

Matos’s experience is evidence that the task of reducing emissions and increasing sustainability can’t be left to management alone. Institutions that have made significant reductions often have done so through labormanagement committees.

Manhattan’s NYU-Langone Medical Center, for example, has substantially reduced waste through recycling under the leadership of the hospital’s Building Service Department’s (BSD) LaborManagement Committee.

Like Matos, most of the 1199ers who are leading the Green efforts are graduates of Health Care Advancement

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Project (H-CAP) programs.

H-CAP is a national labor/ management organization that promotes innovation and quality in healthcare career education. Its board consists of representatives of the Service Employees International locals and representatives of healthcare institutions across the nation.

1199SEIU’s Health And Safety program also train 1199ers to mitigate climate change through measures such as reducing waste and using safer chemicals.

The Union also works with employers and community partners to build resiliency and improve preparedness for future climate disasters. Quality coaches, Hazmat worker trainers and Union Resiliency Coordinators train coworkers to handle disasters.

Members are not only at the tables of their workplaces, but also on the frontlines of political and legislative battles demanding that our elected officials address climate dangers.

Leaders in the healthcare industry point out that hospitals can save millions of dollars by adopting more sustainable practices. These improvements, in turn, would have a positive effect on the health of the local community.

Montefiore is in the process of installing two roof gardens, which will help to reduce flooding, clean the surrounding air and provide other benefits.

“We hold a yearly Earth Day event,” Matos says. “Last year’s theme was ‘Greening Your Home and Workplace.’ We’ve also developed a community garden, which helps to educate teens in the community about urban farming. Currently the garden is being maintained by Montefiore employees.”

Individuals and nations will have to make major changes if we are to avert the worst effects of climate change, climate-justice advocates warn.

Montefiore has accepted the challenge. “We have noticed a significant increase in staff engagement,” Matos stresses. “We realize that we’re closer to reaching a goal of building a culture of sustainability.”

January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

Michael Matos is the Green Initiative Liaison at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, NY.

Your Money

Use the Earned Income Tax Credit to Get Your Full Tax Refund For years, 1199SEIU has helped members receive thousands of dollars in refunds and pay only the taxes they owe by applying for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a tax refund for low-to-moderate income working individuals and families.

The program has employed professional tax preparers to help tens thousands of members obtain refunds. Once again, assistance is available throughout the New York Metropolitan region and other regions of the Union.

In New York City, the 1199SEIU National Benefit Fund has is partnering with the New York City EITC Coalition to assist members.

The NYC EITC Coalition is led by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Financial Empowerment. Key members of the Coalition are the Food Bank for New York City and Ariva, a nonprofit financial education program.

To Claim the EITC members need to meet the following requirements: •

•

•

•

Income below $47,747 ($53,267, if married filing a joint return) with three or more dependent children.

Income below $44,454 ($49,974, if married, filing a joint return) with two dependent children.

Income below $39,131 (444,651, if married, filing a joint return) with one dependent child.

Income below $14,820 ($20,330, if married filing a joint return) with no dependent children.

Even if you are not eligible for the EITC, you can still receive free tax filing assistance if your 2015 household income was below a certain threshold. For more information log onto www.1199seiu.org

In October, 2014, Devery Reid-Holmes, a patient care tech at Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital, used her federal and state tax refunds, thanks to the EITC, for a down payment on a new home for her and her daughter, Imani, and son, Daniel. “I would not have know about the EITC were it not for the Union,” Reid-Holmes said.

BELOW IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED FILE YOUR TAXES AND APPLY FOR THE EITC. • Your spouse. If you are filing a joint return, your spouse must be present with you.

• Photo ID issued by the state or federal government. For yourself and your spouse if you are filing jointly.

For example: driver’s license, state ID, passport, Green Card, etc.

• Social Security card (or individual Taxpayer Identification Number letter). For yourself and everyone to be claimed on your tax return, or a letter from the Social Security Administration with the correct Social Security numbers. Copies of past tax returns are NOT acceptable as proof of Social Security numbers.

This means that you must bring Social Security cards (or copies of the cards) for every dependent you are claiming.

• W-2 forms for all 2015 jobs (last paystub is NOT acceptable).

• Form 1099-B, if you have income from the sale of stocks, bonds, or other assets.

• Form 1099-C, if you have a forgiveness of debt.

• Form-G, if you received unemployment insurance in 2015.

• Form 1099-INT, if you received interest from a bank account in 2015.

• Form 1098-E, if you paid student loan interest in 2015 for post-high school education.

• Form 1098, if you paid real estate taxes and / or mortgage interest.

• Form 1098-T, if you paid tuition for post-high school education in 2015.

• Form 1099-DIV, if you received dividends in 2015.

• Form 1099-R, if you receive a pension, or Form SSA-1099, if you collect Social Security.

• Form 1095-A, if you were enrolled in a qualified health plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace in 2015.

• Form 1095-B and / or 1095C, if you were enrolled under your employer’s health plan in 2015.* • To claim child care expenses, bring: 2015 total amount paid, child care agency Tax Employer Identification Number (EIN) or name and Social Security number of child care provider.

• Sample check with routing and account numbers if you want to use direct deposit.

• Amounts of any other income from your records (jury duty fees, cash earnings, gambling winnings [Form W2-G], etc.).

• A copy of last year’s federal and state tax returns, if available.

For locations of assistance sites and for further information, log onto www.1199seiu.org *You can file your taxes even if you have not yet received your form 1095-B or 1095-C. Once you receive them, please keep them with your tax records.

January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

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“ Things in our field have advanced over the years incredibly and we have seen viability rates go up, but first we have to get the moms into the hospital for care.”

RN Belinda Blanck

WHY I DO WHAT I DO

Belinda Blanck is a Registered Nurse at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, NY

Belinda Blanck, an RN at Crouse Hospital, in Syracuse, NY for four decades, has held some of nurses she works with when they were newborn babies.

Over 39 years at Crouse in maternal and fetal medicine, Blanck has helped tens of thousands of new babies into the world. She shepherds new parents through the anxiety of having babies with an illness or who are so premature that they can fit nearly into the palm of a hand. She also, of course, helps new mothers through the many challenges of pregnancy and childbirth.

Blanck, an 1199SEIU delegate at Crouse, says being an advocate comes naturally to her.

She helps give workers a voice as a rank-and file member of the union’s Executive Council and makes sure Registered Nurses are heard as a member of SEIU’s Nurse Alliance.

“Even back in the day I felt that the women’s healthcare system needed fixing and that women were treated as second-class citizens especially when it comes to our health needs,” she says. “And when I was coming out of nursing school I was given an offer to work on this new unit of fetal and maternal medicine at Crouse. Dr. Richard Aubry started our unit and he was one of 32 physicians in the U.S. at the time in this field of perinatology. We have really

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January/February 2016 • Our Life And Times

built what we do here from the ground up.”

Crouse’s Kienzle Family Maternity Center where Blanck works, offers a broad array of care to mothers and babies; families from the world travel there for treatment.

“As a regional maternity hospital, one of our main goals is always to get mothers [who are having complications] in as early as possible and keep them pregnant,” says Blanck. “Things in our field have advanced over the years incredibly and we have seen viability rates go up, but first we have to get the moms into the hospital for care.”

The Maternity Center delivers about 4,000 babies a year, says Blanck. And every family has unique needs, especially when a baby is sick or very early.

“We have a very diverse patient population and so you have to envelop the entire family unit,” she says. “You have to make sure you’re communicating with everyone. People have many questions. You may not have the answers, so you have to find the answers. Sometimes I am like a care coordinator. I just treat people like they’re my own family. What do they need right now? What can I do to help them get through this?”

The work isn’t without its challenges; even

an experienced nurse like Blanck isn’t immune to the realities of grief, family dysfunction and the incomprehensibility of death.

“We aren’t just sitting there rocking babies all day. We are seeing more and more babies with drug addiction again; babies affected by addiction to heroin and prescription pain medicine. It can be a lot some days. It wears on you,” she says. “But you have to remember that you’re a healthcare provider and that you have to continue the fight. And over the years I’ve been very blessed with co-workers who are so supportive in tough situations.”

Another blessing that she has witnessed over the years, says Blanck, is seeing her “preemies” grow up into strong, healthy adults. Several of them have been nurses at Crouse over the years or they have come back with their families to see her at the hospital.

“One of the babies that I helped deliver at 25 weeks was valedictorian of my son’s high school class,” she says “Or I’ll be out shopping in the supermarket and someone will tap me on the shoulder and say ‘You delivered my son and he was a pound. You should see him now at six feet tall!’ It’s really just an incredible feeling and makes it all worth it.”

THE BACK PAGE The Next Generation of Dreamers Fighting For $15.

Hundreds of members and their families braved icy winds and chilly temperatures during a march through Harlem on MLK Day; the event honored Dr. King’s tireless dedication to economic justice and was part of the ongoing struggle to win a $15 minimum wage in New York State for all caregivers.

See page 7 for story.

Photo by Belinda Gallegos