Our Life & Times | June 2016 by 1199SEIU

UNION’S ELECTION RESULTS

PAID FAMILY LEAVE

THE MOST IMPORTANT LEADERS IN THE UNION

A JOURNAL OF 1199SEIU May/June 2016

VICTORY AT CONSULATE Please send address changes to addresschange@1199.org 1

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

A worker (holding one of the reasons she fought so hard) on one of 19 Consulate picket lines during the oneday strike in April; members stood their ground and in May won an agreement that raises wages for nearly 1000 workers.

Editorial

Our Life and Times May/June 2016

PRIDE IN OUR VICTORIES & 4 VIGILANCE TO PROTECT THEM

President’s Column

In The Regions Baltimore’s Fight For $15; Solidarity with Verizon strikers; NYU lab professionals win landmark pay raises & more.

Union Election Results Leadership team returned to office.

Paid Family Leave This critical benefit is a game-changer for primary caregivers.

…#ImWithHer 1199ers GOTV for Hillary in NY & PA primaries.

Victory @ Consulate Florida nursing home members stood up to the long-term care giant and won.

This issue arrives as many of our sisters and brothers in the LGBTQ community are celebrating Pride Month. And no doubt, we’ve made progress by winning Marriage Equality and the Affordable Care Act to address LGBTQ healthcare disparities. And it’s also just after the close of our SEIU Convention in Detroit, where our International Union resolved wholly new and strategic ways to confront the fights for racial and economic justice. (There will be more on the Convention in the next issue.) But as too many of us know, with every step of progress comes the inevitable attack from the other side. North Carolina and Mississippi recently passed laws so bigoted that some major companies and entertainers refuse to have anything to do with the states. 1199 issued a quick condemnation, stating, “We believe that such laws have no place in our society.” These laws aren’t just hateful; the North Carolina legislation is actually a regressive Trojan Horse. It also prevents workers from suing for discrimination or municipalities from increasing their minimum wage above $7.25 an hour. We are also seeing the systematic expansion of voter suppression nationwide. “This issue is so important and that’s why we have to keep on pushing,” says Renee Neal, an

oxygen tech at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, who has helped register formerly incarcerated felons to vote. And then there is Donald Trump. Pres. Gresham writes in his column: “The consequences of a Trump presidency should be a wake-up call for all of us. A narrow defeat for Trump is not enough. Our primary aim should be to not just defeat him, but to crush him and all that he represents. I am fully confident that we 1199ers are up to the task and ready to fight like never before. It’s not being overly dramatic to say our lives depend on it.” In spite of so many obstacles, working people continue to be fearless. The opposition consistently underestimates us. In Florida—a ‘right to work’ state—700 members at Consulate nursing homes persisted in their fight for respect and better wages and in May won a contract. “A rising tide lifts all boats,” said CNA Rochelle Salcedo. “And this new starting wage sets a new standard in the state of Florida.” So we stand with our LGBTQ sisters and brothers in June and working people across the country; the struggle gives us much to be proud of. And reminds us all how much we have to protect.

The Work We Do The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.

Our Delegates Leaders handle tough questions and share experience.

Give Us the Ballot Voter suppression efforts expand nationwide; we must fight back.

Our Life And Times, May/June 2016 ISSN 1080-3089 Vol 34, No 3 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 executive vice presidents

Jacqueline Alleyne Norma Amsterdam Yvonne Armstrong Lisa Brown George Kennedy Steve Kramer Joyce Neil Monica Russo Rona Shapiro Milly Silva Veronica Turner Laurie Vallone Estela Vazquez

editor

Patricia Kenney director of photography

Jim Tynan photographer

Belinda Gallegos art direction & design

Maiarelli Studio

cover photograph

Jim Tynan contributors

Mindy Berman Regina Heimbruch Natalia Jaramillo JJ Johnson Stacey Mink Tobias Packer Sarah Wilson 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.1199seiu.org

THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN George Gresham

We Must Crush Candidate Trump We can’t just win in November; we must pull out a landslide for the total defeat of his hatred and bigotry.

With Donald Trump the presumed Republican candidate for President, here are the ways he would be good for us healthcare workers and 1199 members. Zero. None. That’s about it; he will only do us harm. Trump is a racist bigot. This is the man that told his biographer, “Laziness is a trait you find in the Blacks.” Trump would not denounce the endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan, condoned the beating of Black Lives Matter protesters at his rallies, and led the campaign to deny Barack Obama’s U.S. birthright and thereby his legitimacy as President of our country. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Trump twice for refusing to rent properties to Black people. He is also the guy who said, “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.” Of the nearly 12 million Mexican immigrants in our country—a group made up mostly of hardworking and lower-income families—Trump famously announced, “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.” There are seven billion human beings on this earth; 1.6 billion, or 23 percent, believe in Islam, the world’s largest religion. Trump wants to ban them from the United States. His campaign slogan should be, “Make America Hate Again.” His bigotry toward women—80 percent of our 1199 members—is legendary. When Fox News’ Megyn Kelly called him out during the GOP debate last August, telling him, “You have called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs’, ‘dogs’, ‘slobs’, and ‘disgusting animals,’” Trump laughed it off, claimed he doesn’t “have the time for total political correctness.” Then he suggested that Kelly’s question was the result of her menstrual cycle. In interviews with The New York Times, dozens of Trump female employees and women he’s dated reveal a long pattern of sexual abuse and exploitation. He would shut down the government rather than fund Planned Parenthood, wants to outlaw abortion and reproductive rights of women, and repeal the Affordable Care Act— which has extended health coverage to millions of women and children. The next President is likely to name at least one and as many as three U.S. Supreme Court Justices, who will shape our future for decades. How important is this? When Justice Antonin Scalia died, the Court lost the man who drove the gutting of the Voting Rights Act; led the Court on Citizens United, which put our elected officials up for sale to the highest bidder; and who led the Court to shut down the Florida vote count in 2000 and name George W. Bush President. So best believe the Court appointments are crucial. The mass media, which has gotten nearly everything else wrong in this election campaign, endlessly report that Trump’s appeal is to the “white working class.” But The New York Times did a study of Trump’s voters as they left the polls and found that, “Trump’s voters are better off economically compared with most Americans.” For example, Trump voters in Maryland average $95,000 a year in income; in

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

Massachusetts, $93,000; New York, $85,000; and Florida, $70,000. Trump is the spoiled, obnoxious billionaire he has always been—with his five houses, including the 58-bedroom Mar-A-Lago mansion in Florida, which has an annual $600,000 property tax. Born into wealth, Trump attended private schools and inherited $40 million when he was just 28 years old. In the November Fox News debate, the billionaire candidate said that the current minimum wage of $7.25 is too high. To build his mid-Manhattan Trump Tower, he used Polish workers, many of them undocumented, working 12-hour shifts seven days a week at $5.00 an hour off the books. (The New York Times calculated that he owed $4 million in back wages to those workers.) It probably goes without saying that Trump is a notorious union-buster. Multiple lawsuits have targeted Trump’s businesses over the years with allegations of anti-union intimidation. In one case, the Trump Organization paid $475,000 to settle a claim with nearly 300 Los Angeles golf club employees in a class-action suit alleging unpaid wages and age discrimination, among other offenses. In Las Vegas, the National Labor Relations Board charged Trump International Hotel management with illegally attempting to coerce workers into voting against unionization. Hotel employees voted by 85 percent to organize with the Culinary Union Local 226, but management hasn’t recognized the union. Not surprisingly, Trump’s staff is heavily comprised of immigrants whose terms of work lag behind union hospitality workers in benefits, wages, and job security. Clearly, this Presidential election campaign will be like no other we’ve seen in our lifetimes. Racism and “white nationalism” have moved from the margins into the center of the GOP campaign and have become the rallying cry for discontented white voters. The hatred that has been unleashed on Barack Obama for the eight years of his Presidency has crystallized in the person of Trump and been incorporated as a central strategy of his campaign. Division of the American people—white against people of color, native born against immigrant workers, men against women, straight against LGBTQ—will be the primary weapon used against us in an attempt to destroy progressive taxation, voting rights, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare, environmental protection, abortion rights, jobs programs, fairness to immigrants, union rights, public education and everything else we have fought for. Trump aims to privatize much of what remains of government and otherwise restructure it to the benefit of the very affluent and the big corporations. The consequences of a Trump Presidency should be a wake-up call for all of us. A narrow defeat for Trump is not enough. Our primary aim should be to not just defeat him, but to crush him and all that he represents. I am fully confident that we 1199ers are up to the task and ready to fight like never before. It’s not being overly dramatic to say our lives depend on it.

The hatred that has been unleashed on Barack Obama for the eight years of his Presidency has crystallized in the person of Trump and been incorporated as a central strategy of his campaign.

Donald Trump is no laughing matter; he’s downright dangerous.

InTheRegions

NEW YORK

Vassar Workers Shine A Light On Short Staffing

JENNIFER BURNS PHOTO

In a dramatic display designed to call attention to short staffing at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY, some three hundred 1199SEIU and New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) members and their supporters marched on the evening of May 11 to the foot of the city’s Mid-Hudson Bridge; the historic span was bathed in the unions’ colors of purple and red, calling attention to the community’s support for the workers they depend on for quality care. At the event, workers pointed out that staffing at Vassar has not kept up with the number of people coming to the hospital, potentially putting quality care and caregivers at risk—especially since management expanded services and started an aggressive marketing campaign. “Our job as caregivers is to provide quality care to our patients. To do this, we need to be healthy, and have enough staff to care for patients safely. The purpose of this rally is to advocate for our patients, and bring attention to the punitive practices that affect the staff of VBMC and ultimately the community we serve,” says Thea Gallagher, an RN and NYSNA member. NYSNA nurses and 1199 professional and technical workers, caregivers and support staff have been trying to get the short-staffing situation resolved for months. Workers held a well-attended candlelight vigil at the hospital in April, but the institution refused to address the concerns of the community and the workers. Over the last year, the number of unsafe staffing situations documented by RNs and Patient Care Technicians has doubled. Workers report constantly doing more with less, working extra shifts and on occasion being mandated to work beyond scheduled hours. Management has also proposed a punitive policy for sick days for workers to recuperate from an illness. “How does this new policy help the short-staffing situation, which is the real problem? It doesn’t help and it’s unfair because if you or your child gets sick, you can’t take sick time because of fear you will be disciplined or even lose your job,” says Kadien Ashman, a food services worker at Vassar for 17 years. “My daughter Saanie is 10 years old; she was sick at school and the nurse wanted to send her home. She told the nurse she couldn’t go home because her momma

would lose her job. That was heart-breaking. And it doesn’t fix a thing. We are still short-staffed.” A rally at Stitzel Field at Eastman Park preceding the march to the Bridge included live music and testimonials. “As RNs, as healthcare workers, we choose to spend much of our lives caring for others and we love the work we do. But we also need to be able to take the time to care for our families and ourselves when necessary,” said RN Kelly Leonard.

1199ers and NYSNA members at Poughkeepsie safe staffing rally that included lighting the MidHudson Bridge in Union’s colors.

NEW YORK

NYU Lab Members Win Landmark Wage Increases

Laboratory professionals in New York’s NYU Langone Medical Center system won landmark wage increases this April after a years-long struggle for recognition for their profession. The increases are part of an agreement that went into effect May 1 that covers 240 lab professionals at NYU Langone’s main hospital, the Hospital for Joint Disease and the institution’s Health and Hospitals Corporations affiliates, including Bellevue. “It always felt bad when we were surveyed as number one, but we weren’t making the same money as our competitors at somewhere

like Columbia,” says delegate Nilsa Espinosa, a supervisory laboratory technologist in microbiology at NYU for 33 years. “The requirements for our profession are demanding. We fought for licensure, and we thought that would be the thing that won us respect. But it didn’t happen.” Now, every single NYU lab technologist will see an increase. Those with at least five years of seniority will receive a 10% increase; senior and lead techs will receive increases ranging anywhere from 12.5% to 16.5%. Many techs’ salaries will go up thousands of dollars.

NYU’s rank-and-file lab committee worked consistently over years and through changes in management to win the raises. Espinosa says it also came about through intergenerational cooperation. “We older workers got the young people and explained to them how long we have been in this fight,” she says. “We made quite a few presentations over the years, and then we let them take up the fight. They made a presentation that really impressed management. It was wonderful, because it showed how we deserve to be treated like professionals.”

Laboratory professionals at NYU fought for more than 10 years for recent wage increases. May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

Baltimore City Joins the Fight for $15 Baltimore City became the newest city to take on the Fight For $15 with the April 18 introduction of a bill to raise the minimum wage for workers in the city to $15 by 2020. A $15 minimum wage by 2020 could raise pay for nearly 100,000 workers in Baltimore City, approximately 20 percent of the workforce. The bill proposes gradually increasing the minimum wage in Baltimore City to $15 by July 2020 and indexing it after that so it rises with increases in the cost of living. It also raises pay for tipped workers, who currently earn $3.63 per hour, to $15 by July 2025 and eliminates the tipped wage thereafter. Also included in the legislation are provisions to eliminate current exemptions to the minimum wage law as well as to strengthen enforcement and anti-retaliation protections for workers. “I’m proud that 1199 is taking on this fight. A $15 minimum wage will help me, my family and so many others in Baltimore City. It will enable me to pay my bills and take care of my children. People need to make more money to be able to maintain their families,” said Susan Clark, a GNA at Future Care Coldspring in Baltimore City. “Even though I make close to $15 per hour, higher wages mean my employer will have to give us a raise to make our jobs competitive. People wonder why you’ve got folks selling drugs and committing crimes. That’s what happens when people can’t earn enough money. We’ve still got to eat and pay our bills.” Approximately 24 percent of Baltimore residents currently have an income below the poverty level. More than one-fifth of city households receive food stamps.

1199ers helped Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen win the April 26 primary for U.S. Senate. MARYLAND

Maryland members celebrate electoral victories 1199SEIU members in Maryland are celebrating victories in races for Baltimore City Council and in Maryland’s open Senate seat during April 26 primary elections. Baltimore City candidates endorsed by 1199SEIU won big in primary elections, supporting a slate of insurgent and incumbent candidates for Baltimore City Council. In heavily Democratic Baltimore City, the outcome of the primary election generally determines the results of the general election in November. “City Hall is stale. We canvassed with the new candidates and they have a lot of energy. They’re ready to make change,” said Renee Neal, an 1199 member who lives in East Baltimore and is an oxygen therapy tech at Johns Hopkins Hospital. “It’s a good look for Baltimore City.” When 1199SEIU endorsed U.S. Congressman Chris Van Hollen,

he went on to win the Democratic primary to become Maryland’s next U.S. Senator. 1199 committed a significant number of member volunteers and other campaign support for Van Hollen in the April 2016 primary. “I know Chris Van Hollen will be a great Senator because he listens and feels our fights and issues,” said Natina Newsome, an 1199 member and Baltimore City resident who is an environmental care worker at Johns Hopkins Hospital. “We marched with him at a Freddie Gray memorial event and he was chanting right along with us. He was taking note of everything he was going to do once he’s in office. I know he’s going to be the people’s senator.” Members and volunteers knocked more tens of thousands of doors and sent several mail pieces to members in support of endorsed candidates.

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

#VictoryAtVerizon 1199ers joined thousands of striking Verizon workers represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for a rally in New York City’s Times Square April 18 to show their support for them and the nearly 40,000 who went on strike against the telecommunications giant in mid-April. In order to bump up its bottom line, Verizon wanted to cut workers’ health benefits and more easily outsource and offshore jobs. Workers said “No Way!” and held strong at picket lines around the northeast, where they were joined by many union sisters and brothers. On May 27, an agreement was announced that preserves good jobs, improves workers’ standards — and in a first — provides provisions for organizing Verizon’s Wireless retail workers.

InTheRegions Members at Sprain Brook NH in Scarsdale, NY held a candlelight vigil and other actions to win their recent contract. NEW YORK

Unafraid, Sprain Brook NH Workers Walked the Rocky Path to Victory 1199SEIU members at Sprain Brook Manor Rehab Center in Scarsdale, N.Y. on May 26 ratified their first contract. The agreement includes employer-paid health benefits, two raises in a year, significant job protections and the settlement of unfair labor practices with payments of more than a half million dollars. For many Sprain Brook workers, it was the longest journey of their careers to collective victory. More than 10 years ago a group of fired-up nursing home workers, at what was then called Sprain Brook Nursing Home, organized and voted to join 1199. They’ve traveled a rocky road to a contract and ratification vote. During that decade management and ownership changed. There were numerous disciplines and firings without just cause; a stack of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charge followed. Members spoke out, presented testimony and eventually federal court issued an injunction against the employer.

1199 Photographer Jim Tynan’s award-winning photo of Future Care Cold Spring stripper/waxer, Terrell Jones.

Still, a collective bargaining agreement felt out of reach. The owners continued to make profit a priority, at the expense of the nursing home’s residents and the workers. Worker turnover increased and short staffing persisted. “Today, voting for a contract seemed more like a dream than anything else,” said Katrina Gjelaj, a housekeeper at Sprain Brook for 15 years. “There were times when people wanted to give up. I knew it wasn’t about what one person could do; we couldn’t win that way, so I put my faith in what we could do as 1199 members, as a union. And here we are now with a contract.” By 2015 Sprain Brook members had enough. They began an aggressive contract campaign, pulled out all the stops, and held a candlelight vigil, an informational picket and a public forum. They spoke with resident families and the local media about the impact below market wages, no health benefits and overall disrespect for workers had on quality care. “The employer knew that 1199

contracts have helped reduce staff turnover and improve care, but they still refused to bargain,” said C.N.A. and 1199 activist Angie McClean. Finally, without resolution on the issues, in March more than 100 of 104 members voted to send a strike notice, if the employer would not begin to bargain seriously. “No one wanted to strike,” said McClean, but we all stood ready to do so in order to settle a contract.” There’s consensus among members that the strike vote was the tipping point in demonstrating their determination to Sprain Brook management; combined with the NLRB findings and public pressure, the boss was compelled to negotiate. Alvin Nicholson has been a dietary aide at Sprain Brook as a dietary aide in 1998. “I got fired twice, once in 2005 and again in 2012, for union activity. So today, I’m overwhelmed with joy and gratitude and hope and feelings I can’t even name,” he says. “It’s two wins for

me, because as part of the agreement, outstanding unfair labor practices were settled–and I’m going to receive back pay for being fired. I keep asking myself, ‘do we really have a contract now?’ A contract means they can’t fire me, or anyone else without just cause anymore.” “The best part is that after being dejected for so long, this contract gives us a legal voice and power—no one can take advantage of us when we together. There is still work to do. We have to make sure our contract is followed and enforced. We want to elect delegates as soon as we can. And we are already thinking about negotiations when the contract expires on September 30, 2017. Many people have been here for decades and would like to be able retire with some dignity, so a guaranteed pension is one of our goals. Others want more education opportunities with the Training Fund,” Katrina Gjelaj said. “I still can’t believe it, but we have our first contract and with that comes endless possibilities.”

1199SEIU’s Media & Communications Recognized With 14 Prizes The Metro NY Labor Communications Council announced April 6 the winners of its annual labor communications contest. Metro gives out the yearly prizes for outstanding achievement in online and print labor communications. This year, 1199SEIU’s work in these areas was recognized with 14 prizes. The awards were presented May 6 at Metro’s annual convention at the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 in Manhattan. The prizes are as follows: PRINT General Excellence: First Place – Our Life And Times Feature Writing, Historical: First Place – “Before Rosa Parks” by JJ Johnson Feature Writing, Contemporary: Third Place – “Our Issues: Affordable College Tuition” by Patricia Kenney News Writing: First Place – “Ebola: Organize, Protect and Prevent the Next Epidemic” by Patricia Kenney Unique Performance: First Place – “Selma: The Dream Marches On” by Jim Tynan Unique Performance: Second Place – “The Last Word: Alicia Garza & Black Lives Matter: From A Moment to A Movement” by JJ Johnson Photo: First Place. May/June Back Cover of MD/DC Member Terrell Jones. by Jim Tynan Graphic Design: First Place. Nov/Dec Cover “Year Of The Living Wage” 1199SEIU/Maiarelli Studio Work by Rank & File Member: Third Place. “Seven Minutes” by Clova James WEB/ONLINE Online Design: Second Place – Facebook.com – by Regina Heimbruch Social Media: First Place – “Why $15” – by Eunic Ortiz, Erin Mei E-Newsletter: Third Place – “The Ice Bucket Challenge” by Eunic Ortiz, Angel Reyes Tweet: Second Place – “The Ice Bucket Challenge” by Eunic Ortiz, Erin Mei Tweet: Third Place – “Ben & Jerry’s” – by Eunic Ortiz, Erin Mei

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

Members Tell Con Ed to Get The Frack Out of Seneca Lake! 1199SEIU members joined a protest at the headquarters of energy giant Con Ed May 16 during the public utilities’ annual shareholder meeting to protest the nearly $1 billion recently invested in fracking infrastructure in New York State. Con Ed has put money into a dangerous natural gas storage and transport facility at Seneca Lake, which is like the one that catastrophically failed this past fall in California and caused 5000 people to be evacuated from their homes. If the plan is approved, the Finger Lakes region is slated to become the largest fracked-gas storage and transport hub for the Northeastern United States, and Seneca Lake will be its epicenter.

Members of 1199SEIU in the Upstate New York region along with Gas Free Seneca and We Are Seneca Lake have mobilized a formidable resistance movement against this potentially catastrophic facility, but with Con Ed’s investment, increases the risks to Seneca Lake, the drinking water for 100,000 people and Central New York’s critical wine industry. “We can’t give in to these powerful companies who put the bottom line ahead of the welfare of people,” Kaye Jaeger, an RN at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse told OLAT in January. Last year 1199SEIU’s Coun cil passed a resolution opposing the construction of gas tanks at Seneca Lake; members also joined several demonstrations and circulated a petition.

1199 retirees Monnie Callan (at left) and Lesbia Mendez at May 16 fracking protest at Con Ed’s NYC headquarters.

NEW YORK

1199ers Picket St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital Dozens of nurses and caregivers held an informational picket May 18 at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Queens, NY. 1199SEIU represents 360 workers at St. Mary’s, most of whom earn below industry standard. Workers include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, maintenance, and clerical employees. Last month, technical and professional employees voted to join the union. Nurses work with disabled and disadvantaged children, many of whom have been at St. Mary’s

The Future of Nursing The 1199SEIU ChildCare Fund held its annual Lab Coat Ceremony at the Union’s Davis/Cherkasky Conference Center in Manhattan May 23. Every year eligible highschool members’ kids on track for nursing careers participate in a Fundsponsored program that helps them achieve their educational and career goals. Next year, the group heads off to college to prepare for nursing courses. 7

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

since birth. For many of these vulnerable children, their caregivers act as surrogate parents. Valerie Murdock has been an RN at St. Mary’s for eight years. “I love caring for these kids. St. Mary’s is a precious place for children who need quality care. My work involves helping them nurture and heal, and it is deeply rewarding,” she says. She says St. Mary’s workers can’t take care of themselves. “They are offering little or nothing in terms of benefits. That’s a big concern of mine, and an increase in benefits is

something that’s 100% needed.” Murdock’s love of the children and her concerns about benefits are echoed by Eviuwa Oseki, an RN at St. Mary’s for 23 years. “What we’re asking for is reasonable. I take a lot of pride in my work, I feel we nurses give our best, and we should get St. Mary’s best in return in the form of quality, affordable health benefits,” says Oseki. “Our young patients are the reason I’ve been here for 23 years. I’ve had job offers at other places, but working with these young people is so fulfilling.”

Our Union

1199SEIU Leadership Re-Elected In April 1199SEIU members voted to re-elect Pres. George Gresham and Sec. Treas Maria Castaneda to a third three-year term leading the Union. Reflecting the Union’s continued growth, members cast their ballots in this election for a newly-structured leadership, which is designed to meet the challenges of a changing healthcare industry. The changes are largely in the New York Region; they reflect the growth and evolution of the long-term care industry and hospitals into mega-health systems.

PRESIDENT: George Gresham

An Election Board comprised of 20 members and 20 alternates was appointed by the Executive Council. Executive Officers, Organizers and Delegates were sworn in at a Joint Delegate Assembly in New York City in June. Delegates were also sworn in at Regional Delegate Assemblies. The American Arbitration Association counted a total of 21,819 votes in the mail-ballot election.

SECRETARY TREASURER: Maria Castaneda

Executive Vice Presidents

Union Wide Vice Presidents At Large

Jacqueline Alleyne Norma Amsterdam Yvonne Armstrong Lisa Brown George Kennedy Maria Kercado Steve Kramer Tyrek Lee Joyce Neil Monica Russo Rona Shapiro Milly Silva Gregory Speller Veronica Turner Laurie Vallone Estela Vazquez

Mark Bergen Dale Ewart Tim Foley David Greenberg Patricia Lippold Ron Mccalla Rhina Molina-Munck Barbara Rosenthal Helen Schaub Onika Shepherd Allan Sherman Katherine Taylor Daine Williams

Organizers

Vice Presidents

Union Wide Organizers At Large: Lystra Campbell Union Wide Organizers At Large: Florence William Johnson

CBO Area 1 - Dialysis/FQHC/MD: Winslow Luna CBO2 - Mental Health/ DD / MISC.: Donald Crosswell CBO Pharmacy - Pharmacy: Berta Silva

CBO Area 1 - Dialysis/FQHC/MD: Henry Singleton CB02 - Mental Health/DD/MISC: Kim Gooden CBO Pharmacy - Pharmacy: Gladys Flores Long Term: Cloreta Morgan

Home Care A: Vladimir Fortunny Home Care B: Leah Nelson Home Care C: Keith Joseph Home Care D: Kwai Ho Home Care E: Rene Ruiz

Home Care A: Ana Dubovici Home Care A: Steve Narvaez Home Care B: Enrique Acevedo Home Care B: Cynthia Neita Home Care C: Rameses Gonzalez Home Care C: Katia Guillaume Home Care D: Allen Chan Home Care E: Harold Fong-Sam

NY/Hudson Valley/Capital: Rosa Lomuscio NY/Hudson Valley/Hudson: Ana Vazquez Montefiore Bronx Independents: Sui Ling Xu Montefiore: Gladys Wrenick Montefiore/Off Sites: Patrick Forde Mt. Sinai BI Petrie Bklyn/Queens: Manuel Leon Mt. Sinai Upper Manhattan: Saily Cabral NSLIJ* - Lenox/Westchester/Queens: Eunice Forde NSLIJ* - LIJ North Shore: Margaret West-Allen NSLIJ* - Maimonides Staten Island University Hospital SI: Coraminita Mahr NSLIJ* - Independents/ Off Sites: Brian Joseph *Northwell Health Nursing Home A: Julio Vives Nursing Home B: Shaywaal Amin Nursing Home C: Noreen Wray Nursing Home D: Patricia Smith Nursing Home E: Frances Gentle Nursing Home F: Joseph Chinea Nursing Home H: Dalton Mayfield Nursing Home I: Timothy Rodgers Nursing Home J: William Kee NYU/Lutheran/Brooklyn Independents: Victor Rivera NYU/HHC: Gerard Cadet NY Presbyterian/SSA: Michael Ashby Presbyterian/Other Off Sites: Antonio Howell RN Area A: Patricia Marthone RN Area B: Nadine Williamson Upstate/Western NY/Central NY: Ruth Heller Upstate/Western NY/North Country: Todd Hobbler Upstate/Western NY/Rochester/Corning: Kathy Tucker Upstate/Western NY/WNY Hospitals: James Scordato Upstate/Western NY/WNY Nursing Homes: Bruce Popper

CBO Area 1 - Dialysis/FQMD: Clifton Barker CB02 - Mental Health/DD/Misc: Michael Mack CBO Pharmacy - Pharmacy: Carmen Schaefer Long Term: Brenda Young Home Care A: Carmen Lopez Home Care A: Phyllis Smith Home Care B: Patricia Ohara Home Care B: Kim Thompson-Werekoh Home Care C: Sukoya Charles Home Care C: Norva Morris Lewis Home Care D: Michelle Wang Home Care E: Irma Miller NY/Hudson Valley/Capital: Natalie Denise King NY/Hudson Valley/Hudson: Nancy Stokes Montefiore Bronx Independents: Thomas Cloutier Montefiore: Maurice Depalo Montefiore Other Off-Site: Carmenta Dawkins Mt. Sinai BI Petrie/Brooklyn/Queens: Jacynth Stewart Mt. Sinai Upper Manhattan: Felix Quinones NSLIJ* - Lenox Hill/Westchester/Queens: Margaret Paul NSLIJ* - LI Independents Off-Site: Frazier Dudley-Gaines NSLIJ* - LIJ/North Shore: Denise Dawkins NSLIJ* - Maimonides/SIUH/SI: Berthelia Robinson *Northwell Health

Montefiore Bronx Independents: Damaris Rankin Montefiore: Keith Johnson Montefiore/Off Sites: Brenda Spry

Nursing Home A: Dennese Wray Nursing Home B: Shirley Young Nursing Home C: Kervin Campbell Nursing Home D: Leah Holland Nursing Home E: Fred Hicks Nursing Home F: Opal Townsend Nursing Home H: Millicent Peterkin Nursing Home I : Judy Sadeli Nursing Home J: Maurice Mintz

Mt. Sinai BI Petrie/Brooklyn/Queens: Ken Telford Mt. Sinai Upper Manhattan: Victor Sanchez

NYU/Lutheran/Brooklyn Independents: Paulette Forbes NYU/HHC: Marie James

NSLIJ* - Lenox/Westchester/Queens: Errol Ramsey NSLIJ* - LIJ North Shore: Trevor Spencer NSLIJ* - Maimonides Staten Island University Hospital SI: James Tucker NSLIJ* - Independents/ Off Sites: Joan Stadler *Northwell Health

NY Presbyterian/SSA: Eduardo Santiago Presbyterian/Other Offsites: Shaquanna King

NY/Hudson Valley/Capital: Maureen Tomlinson NY/Hudson Valley/Hudson: Michael Garvey

Nursing Home A: Tony Grant Nursing Home B: Claire Joseph Nursing Home B: Elise Laviscount Nursing Home C: Veloria Vincent Nursing Home D: Nicholas Franklyn Nursing Home E: Lloyd Maul Nursing Home F: Patrick Duncan Nursing Home H: Michael Grubb Nursing Home I: Johanna Rodriguez Nursing Home J: Denese Jones-Durant Nursing Home J: Linda Pizzi NYU/Lutheran/Brooklyn Independents: Orville James NYU/HHC: Stacylea Gray NY Presbyterian/SSA: Bennet Battista NY Presbyterian/SSA: Maritza Boyce-Duncan Presbyterian/Other Offsites: Patricia Edmund-Sealey Austin RN–A: Benson Matthew RN–A: Isabel Rodriguez RN–B: Elba Gonzalez

Florida - HCA East: Stephanie Shaw Florida - HCA West: Robert Gibson Florida - Long Term Care: Margarette Nerette Florida - Tenet: Jude Derisme Florida - University of Miami Hospital: DeQuasia Canales

Upstate/Western NY/Central NY: Kevin Lockhart Upstate/Western NY/North Country: Mary Wilsie Upstate/Western NY/Rochester/Corning: Tracey Harrison Upstate/Western NY/WNY Hospitals: Nora Moore Upstate/Western NY/WNY Nursing Homes: Kim Gibson

Maryland/DC - Baltimore Hospitals: Raymond Dorsey Maryland/DC - DC/PG: Antoinette Turner Maryland/DC - Long Term Care: Armeta Dixon Maryland/DC - RN: Jennifer Epps

Florida - HCA East: Nicholas Kojkowski Florida - HCA West: Joseph Comer Florida - Tenet: Boston Alexander Florida - UMH: Luis Cerros

Massachusetts - Cape/Southeast: Jerry Fishbein Massachusetts - BMC/Community: Filanine Deronnette Massachusetts - Long Term Care Nursing Home: Herbert Jean Baptiste Massachusetts - PCA: Rebecca Gutman Massachusetts - Steward Health System: Mary Ellen Levelle

Maryland/DC - Baltimore Hospitals: Carietta Heirs Maryland/DC - DC/PG: Maurice Brown Maryland/DC - DC/PG Long Term Care: Nichelle McGirt Maryland/DC - DC/PG – RN: Gail Kingman

New Jersey A: Clauvice St. Hilaire New Jersey B: Roy Garcia

Elected Rank & File Executive Council Members

RN-A: Debra Friedland RN-B: Allys Ansah-Arkorful Upstate/Western NY/Central NY: Roanna Abborino Upstate/Western NY/Central NY: Hatisha Holmes Upstate/Western NY/North Country: Sue Hayes Upstate/Western NY/Rochester/Corning: Marguerite Clarkson Upstate/Western NY/WNY Nursing Homes: Ruth Johnson Upstate/Western NY/WNY Hospitals: William English Upstate/Western NY/Retired Member Division: Victoria Owens Florida - HCA East: Patricia Sherran Diaz Florida - HCA West: Leora Stirrat Florida - Tenet: Phil King Florida - University of Miami Hospital: Elizabeth Jazon Maryland/DC - Baltimore Hospitals: Renee Neal Maryland/DC - DC/PG: Alma Ames Maryland/DC - Long Term Care: Sheldale Washington Maryland/DC - RN: Ionis Riley Massachusetts - BMC/Community: Jeanie Oliver Massachusetts - Cape/Southeast: Lisa Murphy Massachusetts - LTC Nursing: Rosie Cantave Massachusetts - PCA: Kindalay Cummings Akers Massachusetts - Steward Health System: James Farren New Jersey A: Jeanitha Louigene New Jersey B: Cheryl Roberts

Massachusetts - BMC Community: Caridad Rivera Massachusetts - Cape/Southeast: Marie Elder Massachusetts - LTC Nursing: Euriene Rodriguez Massachusetts - PCA: Lisa Lemieux Massachusetts - PCA: Diana Richard New Jersey A: Christina Ozual New Jersey B: Rosalind (Roz) Waddell

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

Our Members

New York’s

Paid Family Leave The quiet victory that will change lives.

Ruby Williams has been working as an aide for Premier Home Health Care in New York City for more than a decade. But as a single mother earning $10 an hour, the income she takes home is not enough to allow her to set anything aside to deal with family emergencies. Before Paid Family Leave (PFL) legislation was passed in New York State in April, most working parents like Ruby could not afford to stop working to care for sick children or family members–when they were most needed at home. But that fact never stopped the crises from reaching the doorstep. Ruby’s own five children are now grown or nearly grown; like many parents she also has custody of two of her grandchildren, one who is two years old and another who was born just four months ago to her eldest daughter, Dominique. In order to provide a stable home for the children, Ruby moved into Dominique’s apartment in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where she organizes child care in shifts with her other daughter Kimberley, who has a four-year-old of her own. If PFL had been in place when Ruby’s youngest grandchild was born, she would have had time off to help the child adjust to the family set up in Red Hook. But as it was, Ruby was not in a position to take time off work. “This new law is going to help a lot of families who right now are having to choose between keeping food on the table and dealing with the stress of a new baby,” said Ruby. Since the abolition of Aid to Families with Dependent Children in 1996, there are very few lifelines left for low-income families in emergency situations. Ruby has raised her kids alone since they were small. For years she has worked as many hours as she could get to make ends meet on her home health aide wages—with no paid time off to look after any of her children for extended periods when they were sick and certainly no time for her infant children or grandchildren. Under the PFL legislation, which also allows time off to relieve family pressure when someone is called to active military service, the situation for Ruby and millions of others is set to change. Winning the Fight for $15 in New York in April was such a landmark victory, that it tended to overshadow the other important

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

legislation that brought Paid Family Leave to the state. New York has now joined California, Rhode Island and New Jersey in offering paid time off to care for a sick or disabled relatives or a new child. 1199SEIU was part of a large coalition of labor unions and community groups called Time to Care that put the legislation on the path to victory. People living in most other states have no such protection and are often forced to take unpaid leave during an extremely stressful period in their lives. Barbara Rodriguez is another 1199SEIU activist who could have really used such help. She has been a home health aide for 15 years, an 1199 delegate for ten years, and currently works for ElderServe, earning $11.25 an hour. Her husband used to work at the Hunts Point meat market in the Bronx, but he was forced to retire with Workman’s Compensation after a work-related hernia. In 2007, his liver started to fail. Barbara did her best to care for him as his condition worsened, but being the main breadwinner, she could not afford to take much time off. “I had to try to juggle work and doctor’s appointments with my husband. He was so attached to me, he never wanted to go with anyone else,” she recalls. They had married when she was just 14 and had been together for 32 years when he passed away, aged just 56. She would have loved to have been able to spend more time with him as he was slipping away, but without PFL it was simply impossible. With the introduction of PFL, workers like Barbara and Ruby will be entitled to 12 weeks paid leave per year, to look after new babies and sick or disabled relatives. The program will not come into effect overnight; it will take time for the full effects to be felt by workers. In 2018, workers will be entitled to eight weeks PFL per year. In the following two years the entitlement will go up to 10 weeks a year. It will not be until 2021, that the full 12 weeks can be claimed. The amount of money received will also climb steadily over time. In 2018, a worker can claim 50% of his or her average weekly wages up to a cap that is equal to 50% of the statewide average weekly wage. In 2015, the New York State

Department of Labor reported $1,296.48 to be the average weekly wage. This figure is relatively high, pulled up by some extremely high earners in the state. But it is a cap and does not represent what most people will claim. The percentage

workers will be eligible to claim will rise to 67% (approximately 2/3) by 2021. “This law will benefit a lot of people,” says Barbara, “We all have family members who get sick and we need to be there for them.”

With the introduction of Paid Family Leave, workers like Rodriguez and Williams will be entitled to 12 weeks paid leave per year, to look after new babies and sick or disabled relatives. 1199ers (at left) celebrated winning Paid Family Leave in New York State at April 4 NYC rally. Home health aide Ruby Williams (below) with three of her grandchildren. Paid Family Leave will help families like hers.

Elections

Alimamy Bakarr Barrie, a home health aide with Staten Island’s Stella Orton Agency, heads to Manhattan April 10 to volunteer for Hillary Clinton.

#ImWithHer Members GOTV for Hillary Clinton in New York and Pennsylvania primaries.

Busloads of 1199SEIU members headed to Pennsylvania from New York and New Jersey in the weekends leading up to the state’s primary to help get out the vote in the Quaker State.

Purple Power was on display during the Presidential primary in New York State on April 19 and a week later in Pennsylvania on April 26 and it helped get out the vote for former Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton. In the weeks leading up to both races, 1199SEIU members mobilized voters at rallies, through phone banking and canvassing efforts. Kim Clarke, a clerk at Brooklyn Hospital, came out after work to help get members to the polls in Brooklyn on Election Day. “I’m very active in the Union and I feel like I have a responsibility to do this,” she says. “I really love Hillary and I like what she stands for; I like how she carries herself and I liked how she carried herself when she was in the White House. I can relate to the issues she stands for. Affordable health care and housing are really important. And as a woman I think it’s about time we have a female president.” The day before Primary Day Sec. Clinton joined members at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers. She spoke about the need for affordable health care and her commitment to working people who dedicate their lives to caring for others. After the visit, members shared the excitement of Sec. Clinton’s visit. “She has such a good

personality. She’s a good woman. You can tell; she’s genuinely supportive,” said Cicely Vincent, a nursing assistant in oncology at St. John’s. Marsha Macmillan is a St. John’s mammography technician is a strong Clinton supporter, and the visit only reinforced her feelings about the candidate. “The whole thing about her connection to Wall St. and the speeches she got paid for is nonsense. We have to make sure our banks are healthy. If we didn’t bail out Detroit, where would we be now?” she questioned. “Hillary will continue to build on President

Obama’s legacy. This is about making change for the working class. I don’t know Sen. Sanders. He seems like a good man, but I know what Hillary can do. Maybe she isn’t perfect, but who is? And we have to give her a chance.” WEEKEND WARRIORS Busloads of 1199SEIU members headed to Pennsylvania form New York and New Jersey in the weekends leading up to the state’s primary to help get out the vote in the Quaker State. Members canvassed from morning into the evening to help get Pennsylvanians to the polls in this critical swing state.

1199ers getting out the vote in Philly April 26. May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

Contracts

Victory at Consulate!

Workers at Florida’s largest long-term care provider chain said “enough is enough” and won.

HISTORIC INCREASE IN MINIMUM WAGE After months of negotiations, Consulate Health Care and caregivers represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East in Florida settled their contract with a significant victory that will increase the minimum wage from $8.05 to $10.40. The new agreement benefits over 700 workers, and will put a large percentage of the caregivers on a path to earning a living wage of $15 an hour by 2020. “We wanted everyone in Florida to realize that health care workers are also struggling to make ends meet and fighting for a living wage; we are the people that care for Florida’s loved ones, but we aren’t able to care for our families on our wages, and we can’t take it anymore,” said Kim White from Lake Mary Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a CNA from Orlando. Some workers will not get an increase until 2017. And winning the contract did not come without sacrifice, says committee member Rochelle Salcedo, a CNA at The Palms of Space Coast Rehabilitation Center who for more than 10 years has been making less than $15 an hour. “Our committee decided to forgo across the board raises for one year to lift the minimum wage to $10.40 and see hundreds of our coworkers get a raise when they need it the most,” said Salcedo. “A rising tide lifts all boats, and this new starting wage sets a new standard in the state of Florida.” Workers had been advocating for better conditions for both the residents and the employees since last year. In fact, union membership grew significantly, and workers at

Heritage Park Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Fort Myers voted to unionize, becoming the 20th Consulate nursing home represented by 1199SEIU Florida. With this new agreement, hundreds of workers at three Consulate nursing homes in Lee County will have their first union contracts.

other forms of public assistance to support their families. Pansy Clayton is a CNA at Hillcrest Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Hollywood. Her story was featured in the Broward Palm Beach New Times. Clayton, who is 60 years old, makes just $11 an hour after working at Hillcrest for more than a decade. She says many workers can’t pay their WALKING THE mortgages on time and have STRIKELINES difficulty paying other basic The turning point, say many expenses on a regular basis. workers, was a one-day “When I retire at age 65, I strike by more than 1,000 won’t have any savings,” she — Rochelle Salcedo Consulate workers held over told the reporter. CNA at The Palms of April 14 and 15. It was the While Clayton spends Space Coast South’s largest-ever privateher days making residents feel Rehabilitation Center sector strike in over a decade, secure, she worries about her with chants, cowbells and own future. So she’s doing bullhorns ringing out for 18 something about it. hours on strike lines at 19 Consulate homes. As the sun rose and set, workers held fast to Workers were energized by the national the strike lines. The action drew unprecedented Fight For $15 and exhausted by fruitless media coverage. Workers were unintimidated contract negotiations and backbreaking by Consulate’s bright red banners advertising an work for poverty pay. The company owns $18 an hour wage for replacement workers. 202 facilities across 22 states with a yearly “We have all the experience and knowledge operating budget of over $2 billion. Yet still that new recruits don’t have,” said CNA Kim refused to budge on proper staffing and other White during the action. “It’s unfortunate that worker concerns or meaningful wage increases. Consulate doesn’t care for or value the workers Workers with decades of service were still who take care of the loyal employees who take making less than $12 an hour and without care of their residents every day.” health insurance. Many full-time Consulate The strike was unanimously supported workers qualify for Medicaid and depend on at a March meeting of the Union’s Executive Council in New York City. Workers told the body how they were determined to set an example for all Florida workers in the Fight For $15. “As we were voting for the strike workers were so fired up. The $15 is so important because then they’ll be able to afford to pay their bills, the mortgage and the medicines they’re taking. They can finally stop working three jobs and spend time with their children,” said Salcedo, who was among the strike’s leaders. On March 21, 1199ers marched and rallied at the company’s headquarters in Maitland, demanding that bosses negotiate fairly and settle an agreement with a living wage. “We were sick of asking for cents so now we demanded dollars,” said White.

“A rising tide lifts all boats, and this new starting wage sets a new standard in the state of Florida.”

Florida’s Consulate workers walked strike lines at 19 homes to help win their contract. 11

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

Our Members

“ I’m always learning through constant communication and keeping an open mind,” Pharmacy Tech Jian Mei is a delegate at Manhattan’s NY Presbyterian Hospital. workers recognized her passion and people skills. One older member wept with joy when she learned that Bonamy had agreed to become a delegate.

The Most Important

Leaders in the Union Delegates are the key link in the Union chain.

The most important title among the many in 1199SEIU is Delegate. It is the delegates alone who comes into daily direct contact with workers in their departments and institutions. And it’s the delegate’s behavior that most often colors the members’ attitude toward the Union as a whole. Our Life And Times recently spoke with delegates to explore their approach to a changing healthcare industry and workplace. “Because I work in a Southern ‘right-to-work’ state, I was anti-union when I started at Terra Vista NH about three years ago,” says Kaydra Bonamy a CNA and delegate at the Orlando, Fl., nursing home. “My attitude was based not on experience, but on a lack of knowledge.” Today, Bonamy says that among her chief challenges as a delegate is “to get the other workers to feel what I feel by helping them to see

what I’ve seen.” Her Union toolbox, however, is not different from that of an 1199SEIU delegate any other region. “First, I let everyone know that we are all family at the workplace,” Bonamy says. “We play together, we cry together and we love our patients together. “I also listen to everyone, whether they are in the Union or not, and I publicize every Union victory and activity, because it’s important that workers know we are winning,” Bonamy stresses. She does not minimize the need for support. “I realize that delegate can never have too much training and that we do a better job when we know that our organizers have our back,” she says. “My organizer has always been there for me.” Before Bonamy became a delegate, her co-

For veteran delegate Jacynth Stewart, it was also her commitment and passion that drew co-workers to her. Stewart is a food service worker at Mt. Sinai-Beth Israel in Manhattan and a longtime member of the Union’s executive council. “Our situation has changed over the years, but what I do to represent members stays the same.” Stewart says. She also cites the importance of constant open communications. She began at BI in 1984, less than a week before a 47-day citywide strike. “I was on the picket line with my two young daughters before I got my first check,” she says with pride. A year later, the outspoken Stewart was convinced to become a delegate by members in her department. She made sure she learned the contract. “I tell members that our contract is our bible, and that they are safe if they follow it, she notes. “Years ago management was more lax, but today they run the hospital like a business, so now everything is much tougher,” Fortunately, she notes, there are strong labor-management committees in the departments to help head off some of the toughest issues. “Short staffing during a time when hospitals say they are losing money is a problem for us, but again we go the contract and policies we’ve agreed to guide us,” she says. A tough issue for Stewart is dealing with members who expect to be bailed out even when they violate contract provisions such as excessive absences or lateness. Says Stewart, “I tell these members that there’s just so much I can do.” “Some members misunderstand how much delegates can do,” says Jian Mei, a delegate and pharmacy tech at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. “I will do my best to defend and protect all members, but I tell them that they must face the consequences when they violate the contract and I’ll be there to help how I can.” Unlike Bonamy, Mei was not new to unions when he began at Presbyterian about seven year ago. “My mother was an 1199 homecare worker, and I walked picketlines with her and also benefited from Union programs such as child care and camp,” he says. Like Bonamy, Mei is grateful to the mentoring he received from older delegates and his Union organizer. And like Bonamy, he was asked to become a delegate not only for his knowledge, but also for his passion. “I’m glad members know that I’ll go toe to toe with management for every one of them,” he says. “For me, mutual respect, an open mind and good communications are always essential, but I believe there also should be more understanding and support for younger delegates like me,” Mei says. “Older delegates, for example, should welcome different approaches. And younger delegates should be given space to try those approaches. For example, maybe in some situations social media might make more sense than leaflets.” Says Mei, “I’m always learning through constant communication and keeping an open mind.”

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

Our Union

The Fight for the Ballot Continues

Voter suppression threatens our democracy. procedures. In the wake of the decision, many states rushed to enact stringent voting regulations such as eliminating same-day voter registration and pre-registration for high-school students soon to turn 18, reducing early voting and imposing strict voter ID requirements. These states also made it far more difficult and expensive to challenge discriminatory voting laws. The voting restrictions have long been part of the extremists’ playbook. Paul Weyrich, widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of the conservative movement, famously said: “I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” More recently, Jim DeMint, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, boasted, “It’s something we’re working on all over the country, because in the states where they do have voter ID laws, you’ve seen, actually, elections begin to change towards more

JAY MALLIN PHOTOT

A central tenet of our nation’s democracy is the right to vote. “It’s a civil rights issue that we’ve been fighting for a long time, says Sean McMillian, an environmental services worker at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. McMillian was among the 1199SEIU activists that knocked on doors during the spring primary campaign in which a host of Union-endorsed Maryland candidates swept to victory. “This coming election is so important and that’s why we have to keep pushing,” says Renee Neal, an oxygen tech at Baltimore Johns Hopkins who took a leave to spend six weeks electioneering. Neal’s GOTV work included talking to residents about their voting rights and convincing many to register. That is especially important in light of the strategy of extremist Republicans to suppress the turnout. They have had the help of the U.S. Supreme Court to do so. In 2013, the Court, in the case Shelby v. Holder, gutted a central provision in the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965–the formula that determined which states and localities, because of a history of discrimination, had to seek federal “preclearance,” or approval before implementing any changes to their voting laws and

Johns Hopkins Oxygen Tech Renee Neal worked to restore voting rights to Maryland’s formerly incarcerated. 15

May/June 2016 • Our Life And Times

conservative candidates.” “We should be doing just the opposite,” says Sherel Redwood, a laundry and dietary aide at Westfield Center NH in Westfield, NJ. “Those ID requirements are terrible.” Redwood, a delegate, is a veteran political activist who is doing volunteer election work this year. One reason she says is because she doesn’t want Donald Trump to do to the country what he’s done to Atlantic City, NJ, leaving a trail of bankruptcies. “I hope the Union calls for me to go out for the [general] election,” Redwood says. “I’ll do whatever I can to get out a big vote for Hillary Clinton and our other candidates.” Neal and McMillian together with other Baltimore canvassers are expanding rather than contracting the voter base. Among the voters they recently registered were some 250 formerly incarcerated citizens who recently regained the right to vote in the state. The law, passed over Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto, restores voting rights to 40,000 recently released ex-felons. This year’s high-stakes national election will be the first in a halfcentury without a fully functioning VRA. At stake are the presidency, the House of Representatives, 34 Senate seats, and the Supreme Court. Some 11 states are considered toss-ups. In 2012, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Florida were decided by a margin smaller than 5 percentage points. Florida 1199ers are aware of the need to make every vote count. “I’ve been working for Hillary [Clinton] and I’ll be out in November,” says Margalie Williams, a CNA at Golden Glades NH in Miami, Florida. Mobilizing members at the workplace and mobilizing voters is the same work,” says McMillian. “That’s the only way we can make a difference.”

Preserving the Voting Rights Act GIVE US THE BALLOT The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America By Ari Berman 2015, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 372 pp. $28

Last year’s observations of the 50th anniversary of the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) were more somber than festive. Ari Berman’s groundbreaking narrative history, Give Us the Ballot, explains why. His work is more than a history of the VRA, it is also a powerful plea for a renewed voting rights movement if we are to preserve the Act and the gains it has produced. Berman’s journey through the first 50 years of the VRA introduces us to the heroes and movement that moved our nation closer to the democracy that the nation’s Civil War and subsequent Constitutional amendments sought to ensure. He takes us to the marches in the streets, the halls of Congress and the nation’s highest court. We learn that the right to vote was never guaranteed. As the African American vote and the number of elected officials of color increased, so did attempts to reverse that forward movement. The attempts became more intense in 2010 with the wave of ultra-conservative officials who swept into office. His work documents the countless unsuccessful attempts to reverse and weaken the VRA. Berman tells us that from 1965 to 2013, the courts and the Department of Justice blocked more than 3,000 new voting laws. That changed dramatically in 2013 with Supreme Court Shelby County v. Holder ruling. Specifically, the ruling invalidated the formula that determined which states and localities, because of a history of discrimination, had to seek federal “preclearance” before implementing any changes to their voting laws and procedures. 2016 will be the nation’s first election in 50 years without the protection of the VRA. Also, 17 states, including crucial swing states like Wisconsin and North Carolina, have new voting restrictions in effect. Give Us the Ballot warns of the need to fight locally and nationally to protect our vote and our democracy.

THE BACK PAGE The Work We Do Katie Dever, an animal care technician at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, takes a break from giving one of the facilitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fish tanks its annual cleaning. See story on pages 12-13.

Photo by Jim Tynan