Healing Inner Wounds
Work We Do: Dealing with COVID-19 in the Long Term
Bronx Fire: 1199 Rallies to Help Victims of the Tragedy A Journal of 1199SEIU January/February 2022
Announcement of Union Election Balloting See Insert
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Fair Pay for Home Care Now
August-September 2021
CONTENTS
The pandemic exposed weaknesses in our healthcare system, which our testimony can help to repair.
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13 5 The President’s Column Why the Filibuster has Got to Go
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6 Around the Regions 1199 Civil Rights Activist Clears her Name; Rochester Members Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Dr King; Professional Titles Organized in Yonkers Hospital; Complete Care Win. 8 Fair Pay for Home Care Campaign Members launch lobbying effort aimed at New York State lawmakers.
@1199seiu www.1199seiu.org 2
1199 Magazine January-February 2022 Vol. 40 No.1 ISSN 2474-7009 Published by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018 (212) 582-1890 www.1199seiu.org
Editorial: Lobbying Lawmakers is More Important than Ever
August-September 2021
10 Bronx Fire Tragedy-Union Response 1199SEIU swings into action when a group of members are struck by a catastrophe. 13 Our Delegates Occupational Therapy Assistant, New Jewish Home in Manhattan Yvette Vasquez 14 The Work We Do Living with COVID-19 Long Term. 17 Celebrating Our New Citizens The pandemic may have caused the “swearing in” ceremony to go virtual, but it couldn’t stop Union members from taking part.
19 Healing Inner Wounds Since the pandemic, more and more members are taking advantage of the free therapy provided by the Union benefit fund to come to terms with mental stress. 22 A History of Fighting for Voting Rights Many 1199ers have been arrested to win ballot access, and the war is far from over.
As proud 1199SEIU members, we all know coming together to bargain collectively gives us the best chance of negotiating strong contracts for ourselves – including the pay and benefits we deserve. What is less well known is that lobbying our elected representatives and demonstrating our strength in numbers to them also has a significant influence over what we can achieve at the bargaining table. This is especially true when it comes to members who look after the most vulnerable people in society, whether they work in nursing homes, safety net hospitals or as home care workers. In New York State, where the COVID-19 virus first exploded in the United States, the weaknesses in the health care system were painfully exposed. But as frontline healthcare workers, who watched the pandemic unfold in front of our eyes, we are now well placed to influence legislative changes. Now, a combination of robust Federal aid and higher than expected tax revenues has given New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, an opportunity to make real investments in the healthcare sector, especially in us, its human infrastructure. To make sure members' voices are heard in the corridors of power in Albany when funding decisions are being made, the Union has launched two important campaigns this winter. The first is the Fair Pay for Home Care Workers campaign aimed at ensuring that workers can earn family-sustaining living wage and consumers can get the care they need. Medicaid-funded home care workers provide crucial support so that seniors and people with disabilities can live independently in their own homes. But the wages for this vital work have not kept pace with the increasing demand. That is why it is so important for 1199 home care members to give testimony about their working conditions to ensure that lawmakers understand, and the government money to fund wage increases is made available. At the same time, members who work in hospitals serving New York’s most vulnerable communities are taking part in a Save our Safety Nets campaign. These hospitals have always cared for communities which suffer from high rates of chronic diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma – conditions exacerbated by the structural inequality and racism faced by too many New Yorkers. Now that NYS is in a strong position to make investments, 1199ers are making sure to let our representatives know how important it is to finally
president
George Gresham secretary treasurer
Maria Castaneda senior executive vice presidents
Yvonne Armstrong Veronica TurnerBiggs executive vice presidents
Jacqueline Alleyne Lisa Brown Tim Foley Patrick Forde Todd Hobler Antonio Howell Maria Kercado Brian Morse Joyce Neil Rona Shapiro Milly Silva Gregory Speller Nadine Williamson editor
Sarah Wilson art direction and design
Maiarelli Studio cover illustration
Regina Heimbruch photographer
Kim Wessels contributors
Luba Lukova
Now that NYS is in a strong position to make investments, 1199ers are making sure to let our representatives know how important it is to finally give safety net hospitals the financial underpinning they need, which has long been denied.
give safety net hospitals the financial underpinning they need, which has long been denied. It is not just New York members who are campaigning for change. In New Jersey, following a successful campaign to secure a path to higher wages for CNAs in nursing homes, members are lobbying to secure legal protection for wages when these homes are sold. Massachusetts members recently convinced the state’s healthcare provider, MassHealth to provide hazard pay to the Personal Care Attendants who do home care work in that state. And in New York, previous lobbying efforts won impactful reform in the nursing home industry, including minimum hours of care per resident per day and a requirement to increase spending on resident care and staffing. It’s good to have a year where we are not campaigning against cuts. With the state flush with cash, now is the time to keep the pressure on to ensure they protect the needs of the most vulnerable and the workers and institutions that care for them.
Annabelle Heckler, Jenna Jackson, JJ Johnson, Bryn Lloyd-Bollard, Clemon Richardson, Erin Rojas 1199 Magazine is published six times a year—January/ February, March/ April, May/June, July/ August, September/ October, November/ December—for $15.00 per year by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018 Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 1199 Magazine, 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018
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Social Media Why the Filibuster has Got to Go The President’s Column by George Gresham
@1199SEIU: Local 1199 was founded by a small group of drugstore workers and pharmacists over 90 years ago. Today, we wish all pharmacists a happy #NationalPharmacistDay! @1199seiu_mddc: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed members of 1199 in 1968, saying that he considered himself "a fellow 1199er." He connected with members about organizing for an integrated vision of racial, economic, and global justice. Listen to his full speech at https://youtu. be/IBodqhUGoq0.
1199SEIU MASSACHUSETTS: It was National Sticker Day on January 13 (we love a good sticker). 1199ers Samantha Thomas and Geri Amparo at Nantucket Cottage Hospital understood the assignment and are showing their fave stickers calling for a fair contract that honors healthcare heroes. #RespectProtectPayUs
1199SEIU UPSTATE NY: #OurVoteOurVoice – but what about workers who can’t take time off to vote? Protect voting rights for ALL and pass voting rights legislation #ForThePeople! #ThePeoplesVote - Carlos Rosa, Strong Memorial Hospital
@1199MASS: In need of some #MondayMotivation? Enter our 1199 members of the @capecodhealthcare COVID-19 vaccination team! Rain, snow or shine, they are ensuring that Mass. residents are able to protect themselves and their families against COVID. Need your booster? Visit here: https://vaxfinder. mass.gov/ to find availability near you.
@1199seiuflorida: Healthcare workers visited FL lawmakers' offices to share materials about the crisis in care in nursing homes and urge legislators to support a bill that calls for at least 75% of Medicaid $ to be spent on patient care. #WeCareForFL
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@1199seiu: This past week, NYPresbyterian members gathered and donated relief supplies to the victims of the Bronx fire last Sunday. Thank you to the members who've volunteered to help the community in need. #1u #UnionStrong
Let’s hear from you Send your letters to: 1199 Magazine, 498 7th Ave. 24th fl. New York, NY 10018, Attn: 1199 Magazine, Editor; or email them to magazine@1199.org. Please put “Letters” in the subject line of your email.
A group of senators representing fewer than one-fifth of the people in this country routinely use the filibuster to prevent the passage of bills with broad public support.
For months now, President Biden has been facing negative headlines, calling him out for failing to enact his ground-breaking legislative agenda. But with Democrat Chuck Schumer leading the Senate majority, why are the progressive bills getting stuck there? What gives? First, of course, is the obvious: After the 2020 elections, Democrats and Republicans each held 50 seats. What gives the Democrats the “majority” is Vice President Kamala Harris who presides over the Senate and thus casts any tie-breaking vote. This means the Democrats cannot afford anything less than total unity in the Senate -- if they want to pass any legislation. But there is more: Regardless of who holds the balance of power, the way the seats are allocated in the Senate is already deeply inequitable. Wyoming and North Dakota, for example, have a population of 1.3 million people between them, but together they send four Senators to Washington—the same number as California and New York, two states that have a combined population of nearly 60 million. Because most Republican senators are elected by small-population, largely rural states, Democrats in the current Senate represent over 20 million more people than Republicans do. And yet each party holds the same number of seats in the Senate. Or to put it in another way, the 26 least populous states are home to just 17 percent of the U.S. population. This means that a group of senators representing fewer than one-fifth of the people in this country can and does use the filibuster to prevent the
passage of bills with broad public support. What is the filibuster? It is a loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill. It used to require marathon speech-making. Now the Republicans have turned it into a practice where the leader of the opposition—the GOP’s Sen. Mitch McConnell—only needs to signal he has 41 votes to defeat a bill. This is something he does on nearly all Democratic legislation. Even with this razor-thin majority, the Democrats should be able to pass President Biden’s program— including voting rights protections, expanded Medicare, children’s tax credits, drug price controls, college tuition help, making the wealthy pay their share of taxes, and tackling climate change. But instead, the Republicans have been shamelessly using the filibuster to defeat these much-needed reforms. The filibuster has a long and ugly history. For years it was used to block landmark civil rights legislation. Southern senators used it to kill antilynching legislation numerous times over the course of the 20th century— in fact, because of this obstruction the Senate didn’t pass an anti-lynching bill for the first time until 2018. (Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) holds the record for the longest speaking filibuster in Senate history in opposition to the 1957 Civil Rights Act: He spoke nearly uninterrupted for 24 hours and 18 minutes). And collectively, opponents of civil rights legislation filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act for 60 working days, the longest combined filibuster in history.
“ Donald Trump may have been out of office a full year, but our work is only just beginning. Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House, but to pass progressive legislation, we need to abolish the filibuster.” Without the filibuster, the Dream Act would have passed in 2010. Congress and the White House were then controlled by Democrats, so when the House passed the Dream Act and sent it over to the Senate, Dreamers hoped that they would soon obtain permanent relief from deportation. Instead, the Dream Act was blocked because, with a vote of 55-41, it didn’t get the necessary 60 votes to advance. Donald Trump may have been out of office for more than a year, but our work is only just beginning. Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House, but to pass progressive legislation, we need to abolish the filibuster. As the Senate’s rules exist today, Republicans in the Senate will still have the power to block every single progressive priority. It's simple: None of the progressive issues that Democratic candidates and congressional leaders are discussing today will become law unless we do something about the filibuster.
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Florida Maryland Massachusetts New Jersey New York Washington, D.C.
Around the Regions NEW YORK
Professional Titles Organized in Yonkers Hospital The professional unit at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers, NY, voted to join 1199SEIU in a near unanimous poll on January 18, bringing 60 new members into the Union family. The new titles included Medical Technologists, Pharmacists, Case Managers and Social Workers. The service and technical units had been part of the Union for some time, but the professionals had proved harder to organize. Member leader Yasser Gebrail, a Medical Technologist at St. Joseph’s, played a crucial role in the new organizing victory. Originally hired as a Medical Technician ten years ago, he understood at firsthand the value of Union benefits when he qualified for the professional title of Technologist.
Rochester Members Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Dr King
NEW YORK
1199 Civil Rights Activist Clears her Name Claudette Colvin, a now retired 1199SEIU member, who courageously defied the segregated bus laws in Alabama during the Jim Crow era, has finally been cleared of wrongdoing some 65 years later. In 1955, aged just 15, Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person in Montgomery. Her act of civil disobedience came nine months before that of Rosa Parks, which sparked the bus boycott campaign, and later brought the young Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. At the time, however, civil rights leaders perceived a poor 15-year-old to be an unsuitable person to build a movement around. Colvin eventually settled in New York and began working as a Nurse Aide at the Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home in 1968. She retired 6
January/February 2022
Claudette Colvin, the retired 1199SEIU member and civil right activist, attends union event in 2009.
in 2004, after a 36-year career there and later returned to Alabama. It has taken many decades for her name to be officially cleared. But an Alabama family court judge finally granted Colvin’s petition to expunge her record in November 2021. Montgomery County Juvenile Judge Calvin Williams signed the order to seal, destroy and expunge her 65-year-old record for good cause and fairness for "what has since been recognized as a courageous act on her behalf and on behalf of a community of affected people.” In a 2015 interview, Colvin said to the 1199 Magazine in words that still resonate today: “What I tell young people is that you should always stand up for what you think is right regardless of the consequences. You never know if your actions might light a spark.”
Alfred Sharif Hill, a cook and delegate from Strong Memorial Hospital, hosts the Martin Luther King Day event.
In 1955, aged just 15, Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person in Montgomery.
On January 17, hundreds of 1199SEIU members at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, held their 41st annual event to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Because of the surge in Omicron cases, the show took place over Zoom. But that did not prevent lively dance performances, activist poetry readings and gospel choir songs from being broadcast online to the participants. Alfred Sharif Hill, a Cook and 1199 Delegate at Strong Memorial Hospital acted as MC and State Senator Samra Brouk delivered the keynote speech to the members and community activists online.
“In the past, some of my co-workers were afraid to join the Union or they had received false information about what Union benefits really meant,” explained Gebrail. “During this campaign, I went around asking people personal questions like how much they had paid for medicines or co-pays. One co-worker told me that he had recently paid $800 for dental treatment, for example.” He then went over how the Union healthcare benefits would have saved them money. If they had children, Gebrail explained in detail how the 1199SEIU Childcare Fund benefits would help their families. “When people saw how the Union would improve the lives of themselves and their families in a practical way,” said Gebrail, “They were ready to vote ‘Yes’ on their ballot”.
Yasser Gebrail, a Medical Technologist, at St Joseph’s Hospital in Yonkers. Members from Complete Care at Green Knoll Nursing Home in Bridgewater, NJ, on the 24-hour strike line.
NEW JERSEY
Complete Care Win Members at ten New Jersey nursing homes just won a contract settlement with Complete Care Management, a significant victory in what had been a major campaign throughout 2021 against the state’s largest nursing home operator. Last fall, members at Complete Care at Marcella Center in Burlington Twp. and Complete Care at Green Knoll in Bridgewater Twp. went on a 24-hour strike to protest unfair labor practices and demand immediate improvements to their jobs. These strikes followed numerous other worksite actions throughout the
year, including pickets in East Orange, Englewood, Monmouth Junction, Voorhees, and Westfield. As members continued to build pressure against the company throughout the holidays, a contract settlement was finally reached. In late January, members overwhelming ratified an agreement granting significant wage increases, immediate bonuses, greater paid time off, and major reductions to their cost of health insurance, among other improvements vitally needed for 1199 members and their families.
Members overwhelmingly ratified an agreement granting significant wage increases, immediate bonuses, greater paid time off, and major reductions to their cost of health insurance, among other improvements. 1199 Magazine
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CONTRACTS
Home Care members Anna Couch, Maria Cantillo and Berta Motta sign postcards calling on New York State lawmakers to “Have A Heart” for Home Care.
Fair Pay for Home Care Campaign
Members launch lobbying effort aimed at New York State lawmakers.
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Home care workers have always been essential— they provide the necessary care that allows seniors and people with disabilities to live independently—and with dignity in their own homes. During the pandemic, 1199SEIU home care members have been stretched to their limits more than ever before. “We’re working so hard for a little bit of money,” says Beverley Campbell, a home health member with People Care. “We have to pay rent, food, gas and train fare. We have to make sure we are mentally good; we have to take care of all kinds of people, with all kinds of sicknesses and illnesses, and then find a way to take care of ourselves as well.
It’s a lot.” That’s why Union home care members are joining together to tackle the problem at its source. Alongside the rest of their 1199SEIU family and community allies, they have launched the Fair Pay in Home Care campaign. Using tools such as virtual lobby visits and a postcard campaign, members are pressing New York State (NYS) lawmakers in Albany to ensure all home care workers can receive a family-sustaining living wage, pay for all hours worked, guaranteed hours of work to maintain a steady income, and benefits including paid time off. The pandemic has made such a campaign more urgent
than ever. NYS is facing an extreme shortage of these essential workers, which is in turn is creating a healthcare crisis. A recent study by the City University of New York (CUNY) estimates that 17% of home care jobs are currently unfilled and more than 26,000 new workers need to be hired annually just to keep up with demand. It is precisely the unfair wages and unstable work that have created a high turnover and difficulty attracting new workers. Tracey Ann Patterson, a Home Health Aide with the Care at Home agency in Queens, says, “Ever since the pandemic, everything has increased – prices have doubled or tripled
on gas, food, and a lot of other things. How do you feed your family? How do you buy a MetroCard? “I had to cash out my 40 hours of personal time just to cover my bills”. I want to be a home care worker. I love my job, but I also need to take care of my children. I should be able to do this and survive. Not just survive—live!” Not only is the pay inadequate but given the changing needs of the people they serve, home care workers often need to take on multiple shifts with different clients, many times traveling two to four hours to go from case to case. This takes an unbearable toll not only on the workers, but also on those they care
for. Right now, because of the extreme shortage, tens of thousands of New Yorkers can’t get the care they need at home. For many of them, their homecare worker is a lifeline. Maria Cantillo, Home Care Aide at Personal Touch, says, “We have to get to our clients to keep them safe. Who is going to be there to help them? One time when the roads were closed, I couldn’t get to my clients, and I worried something would happen to them. I need to get there to make sure they continue to live."
“ Ever since the pandemic, everything has increased—prices have doubled or tripled on gas, food, a lot of things. How do you feed your family? I want to be a home care worker. I love my job, but I also need to take care of my children. I should be able to do this and survive. And not just survive—live!” – Tracey Ann Patterson, Home Health Aide, Care at Home agency, Queens
Join the fight online at: https:// fairpayforhomecareworkers. org/ 1199 Magazine
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OUR MEMBERS
Community tributes to the victims of the deadly fire at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx.
Most of the members affected were home care workers who have been moved to local hotels while repairs were being made.
BRONX FIRE TRAGEDY UNION RESPONSE 1199SEIU swings into action when a group of members are struck by a catastrophe
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Displaced home care members Mary Jackson, Fatoumatta Camarra and Mercedes de la Cruz receive $500 gift certificates. Mourners gather to pay their respects at the memorial service held at the Islamic Community Center in the Bronx on January 16, 2022.
When 1199 learned of the terrible blaze that claimed the lives of 17 people when it ripped through a Bronx apartment building, the Union feared the worst. The Bronx is home to many thousands of 1199SEIU members and it was safe to assume that some of them might have been affected. A rapid investigation found that there were, in fact, 11 Union members living at 333 East 181st Street, where the blaze occurred– largely because of a combination of inadequate up-keep and enforcement of the building’s fire safety measures. Most of the members affected were home care workers who have been moved to local hotels while repairs were being made. In situations where a group of members or their families are struck by a tragedy, whether it be a catastrophe at home or a natural disaster in another country, the Union always tries to find a way to help. In this case, to assist with the replacement of damaged property, the union issued each of the displaced members with a gift card worth $500. Mercedes de la Cruz, a home care member with the agency Cooperative Home Care Associates, was among those displaced by the fire. She was not home
at the time, but her boyfriend had to flee. The fire alarm did go off, but because a combination of poor maintenance and enforcement of fire safety standards, the alarms went off on an almost daily basis, she reported. “I appreciate the gift card from the union,” said de la Cruz, who is hoping to be allocated another apartment, “It will be helpful in buying the new things I will need.” In addition to the gift cards, Union staff were asked to donate the dollar value of some of their accrued vacation time. At press time, the total amount donated stood at $20,000. The Union is working with community leaders to address the long-term issues that contributed to the tragedy. We understand that there are too few affordable housing options in New York City and those that do exist are often not kept up to code. 1199SEIU routinely advocates for tenant rights and housing affordability. 1199 Magazine
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OUR MEMBERS Kora Yaineneh (far right), an 1199SEIU RN at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, with colleagues during happier times.
Our Delegates: Occupational Therapy Assistant, New Jewish Home in Manhattan
Yvette Vasquez
She grew up wanting to work in health care. Once she got there, she realized she was also called to union activism.
Living with Loss
When Kora Yaineneh, an 1199SEIU RN first arrived in the U.S. from her native Gambia in 1990, she spent a few weeks at 333 East 181st Street, in the home of Abdoulie Touray. In keeping with Gambian tradition, Yaineneh did not join her husband who had already found a job and a home in New York, until she had spent time in Touray’s house becoming oriented. Many of her close family members settled in the building which was known locally as Touray Towers after the Gambian father figure, who had settled
there in the 1970s and routinely opened his home to newcomers from his homeland. Tragically, Yaineneh’s sister as well as her sister and brotherin-law on her husband’s side and four of her nieces and nephews perished in the blaze. Her best friend’s daughter, Sera Janneh was also amongst the victims. After taking a few days bereavement leave, Yaineneh is back at her post at Mount Sinai Beth Israel finding solace in the nursing work that is so important to other people and their families.
Tragically, Yaineneh’s sister as well as her sister and brother-in-law on her husband’s side and four of her nieces and nephews perished in the blaze.
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“I’ve always been interested in science and helping people,” says Yvette Vasquez, “so naturally where the two combined is the medical field,” she says. But finding her current position as an Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA), came with detours. “I’m a germaphobe, and I don’t like needles, so I couldn’t be a nurse. Then I did a year of social work in college, but I realized I’m way too emotional for that—I couldn’t adopt everyone.” Vasquez landed on becoming an OTA because “I had an occupational therapist after a surgery I had as a child.” She wanted to be able to give back the same level of quality care she received at the time. While working for different agencies, Vasquez was called to do coverage at the New Jewish Home in Manhattan for someone who was on leave. She did so well that they asked her to stay and join the staff. Luckily for her, New Jewish Home was an 1199SEIU facility. “I knew that there are very few therapy positions that are unionized, so I was grateful to stumble upon one. I knew 1199’s history and how good they are to their
workers, so was glad to be a part of it,” she says. After coming into conflict with management over scheduling and billing, Vasquez wanted change. So, she started going to union meetings and spoke with their new organizer, who immediately suggested she become a Delegate. “It wasn’t on my radar, but she was right,” remembers Vasquez. “If I wanted to see change; then why not me?” Since then, Yvette has been on the front lines organizing workers, maintaining benefits, and making sure positions don’t get taken over by agency workers. She’s also become very active with 1199’s Political Action department. “I got a phone call asking if I wanted to work on a political campaign. I’m always open to learning something new, so why not learn another part of the Union and see what else we do in and for the community.” Since then she’s been to Albany fighting for nursing home reform, safe staffing laws and has also taken part in virtual lobby visits, phone banks, and candidate screenings.
Yvette Vasquez, an Occupational Therapy Assistant at the New Jewish Home in Manhattan.
“ It wasn’t on my radar to be a delegate, but my organizer was right. If I wanted to see change, then why not me?”
“It’s amazing seeing our strength [in those places]. I never realized [before] how much politics affects health care and our being able to push and make change is amazing. Health care is in dire need of change, and who better to direct that change than [those of] us who are doing the work.” For Vasquez, it’s clear why she does this work: “I need to have good health, especially mental health to give 100% to my patients; and so, does every other worker. I fight for members so they can feel supported and do their job effectively so patients can get the best care. If I can help a member get through the day, or if they know I can get them what they need, then I’ve done my job.” About her role with 1199 she says, “I wish all our members could see the union the way I do; that they’re a part of it no matter what. I hope more members take initiative and realize that if they want to see change, they need to take part and speak up. If we all speak up and work together, our union would be that much stronger and get that much more done.”
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LIVING WITH COVID-19 LONG TERM THE WORK WE DO:
As this Magazine goes to press, the country is approaching a grim milestone. March 16 will be the second anniversary of New York City schools being shut down and workers at most non-essential businesses being ordered to work from home. This day marked the beginning of what became known as the ‘lockdown’. Hopes for a return to normal were first dashed by the Delta variant and more recently by Omicron. Healthcare workers on the frontlines have always been the essential workers most at risk of contracting the virus themselves. Here are a small sample of the lasting health effects of the virus that many 1199SEIU members have had to endure.
1. Natasha Dale, an LPN at the King David NH in Brooklyn, contracted COVID-19 in April 2020. After spiking a temperature of 104.5 at work, she woke up the next day and could barely walk. “My bed was my best friend,” she remembers, “The coughing lasted for 3-4 months. I went to a pulmonologist and learned that my breathing capacity was down to 87% because I have scar tissue on my lungs. I now use an inhaler, and it is getting better, but I still suffer from sleep apnea and need to use a CPAP machine to sleep.” “So many staff members are leaving their jobs here. It would be nice to get more incentives [from management] for those of us who do stay.”
2. Laura Dennis, an LPN at White Oaks nursing home in Woodbury, Long Island. As a charge nurse on a Covid unit, she caught the virus in March 2020. Her 12-yearold daughter also contracted the disease and spent time in the ICU, where she nearly died. But after these terrible experiences early in the pandemic, Dennis is still having to work double or even triple shifts, because her unit is so shortstaffed.“We lean on each other, and do the best we can for the residents always,” says Dennis. “We do have those moments where we feel burned out, and all you want to do on your day off is sleep the whole day.”
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“ We do have those moments where we feel burned out, and all you want to do on your day off is sleep the whole day.” – Laura Dennis, LPN White Oaks nursing home, Woodbury, Long Island
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THE WORK WE DO
“ I lived in a walk-up, and I could barely get up the stairs. I had shortness of breath and was off work for a month.” – Collette Seegers, Union Delegate and CNA, Sara Neuman, Mamaroneck, Westchester
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3. Toni Whyte, a CNA at Sara Neuman nursing home in Mamaroneck, NY was only able to sleep sitting up once she became infected with the coronavirus in March 2020. “I lived in a walk-up, and I could barely get up the stairs. I had shortness of breath and was off work for a month.” Still working on a Covid ward, Whyte caught the virus again this New Year’s Day and was out for a week. Like many who were infected by the virus in the early days, Whyte still suffers from significant anxiety. “Recently. I thought I was having a heart attack and went to the ER,” she says, “It turns out it was a panic attack. So I did virtual therapy sessions for a month—which helped.” Whyte has also begun suffering from high blood pressure since her infection. Doctors offered medication, but through diet and exercise she lost 40 pounds, and lowered her blood pressure naturally. 4. Collette Seegers, a Union Delegate and CNA at Sara Neuman, Mamaroneck, Westchester, caught COVID19 right at the beginning of the pandemic. She went to the ER with a high fever, but was sent home the same day after they hydrated her.
“I lost my taste for food and was afraid to drive. I couldn’t lay down flat to sleep,” she remembers, “I now have more anxiety than ever.” “My dog saved my life,” she says about her Labrador retriever named Honey, “I had to walk her with a belt around my waist because I couldn’t hold the leash.” Veronica Ortiz (not pictured), is a Patient Access Service Representative in the Radiology Department, Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn. It was during the first month of the lock-down back in March 2020 that Ortiz fell ill with Covid at her former job, just before being furloughed. “A man coughed right in my face,” she remembers. “For three weeks, it was really bad. I had shortness of breath, and I felt like I was going to die. I couldn’t walk or eat. My husband had to help me to the bathroom.” Ortiz slept in the living room to protect her family, but her 14-year-old son contracted the virus, nonetheless. She is in therapy to help with the anxiety and sleeping trouble with which she has struggled ever since. She adds: “I still feel drained all the time and have ongoing digestive problems.”
Celebrating Our New Citizens The pandemic may have caused the “swearing in” ceremony to go virtual, but it couldn’t stop Union members from taking part.
The healthcare field has long attracted recent U.S. immigrants, who bring their skills and commitment from around the world. To help ensure that Union members enjoy all the benefits and privileges of living in this country, the 1199 Citizenship program was set up more than 20 years ago. Yan Looi, a Home Health Aide with the Manhattan-based First Chinese Agency, took the program’s classes before the pandemic. “The
course was very helpful,” Looi said. “Not only because of the teacher and students, but we also helped each other learn.” Originally from Malaysia, Looi attended a citizenship swearing in ceremony in February of 2020 at Federal Plaza, a month before the pandemic shut the country down. Recognizing that civic engagement is an important part of citizenship, Looi joined a delegation of
1199SEIU members, as they headed to Washington, DC for a national demonstration last November to lobby Congress for more money to support fair wages for homecare workers. Another politically active union member, Antoinette Rose, came to the United States from Jamaica in 2004 with her mother, Blondell Clark, and three siblings. Her mother filed for citizenship for all four
To help ensure that Union members enjoy all the benefits and privileges of living in this country, the 1199 Citizenship program was set up more than 20 years ago.
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OUR MEMBERS
children shortly after they arrived. But while she had a green card, Rose’s citizenship paperwork got lost, and for years she was unable to verify her citizenship status. In the meantime, Rose, a Union delegate and Medical Analyst at Montefiore Medical Center in Tarrytown, NY, threw herself into Union and city politics. She has served as a delegate to the NYC Central Labor Council and campaigned for Democratic candidates for a variety of local and state offices. Rose was also on the employee committee that convinced Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx to provide shuttle buses to the Tarrytown facility. “If they had no buses, we would have to pay another $300 a month to get to work on the Metro North train,” Rose said. Politics was even a consideration when she took part in the 1199 citizenship program last year to prepare for the exam. “I didn’t want to become a citizen while President Trump was in office,” said Rose. Colletta Seales, who came to the U.S. in 2014 from Guyana, said
a site visit from an 1199 organizer convinced her to sign up for the citizenship classes. “The classes were great! I am very happy,” said Seales, a Home Health Aide with Personal Touch Home Care in Long Island City, Queens, who was sworn in at Federal Plaza last year. “The classes really help prepare you. I wish my family could have been there when we were sworn in, but we did get pictures we could share with them. “I will always be grateful to the union because they paid a lot of the expenses I would have had to pay, and it is not cheap.” she said. Yanique Bell, a Home Health Aide with All Metro Health Care, had to be sworn in virtually because of the pandemic. “I had classes and studied online,” Bell, originally from Jamaica, said. “The test was not hard because the [1199 Citizenship] course prepared me—and I prayed before I took it. “It was a really good course. They would tell you when you had an appointment, what you needed and made sure you had it. They even put in the papers for me. That made everything easy.” The 1199 Citizenship program offers counseling, classes on the exam, interview prep, and help with some fees. More than 10,000 1199SEIU members have used the program to secure U.S. citizenship since the program started in 2001. Call (646) 473-8915 for more information.
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Yanique Bell, a Home Health Aide with All Metro Health Care, who was sworn in virtually. Antoinette Rose, a Union delegate and Medical Analyst at Montefiore Medical Center in Tarrytown, NY.
Healing Inner Wounds
Yan Looi, a Home Health Aide with the Manhattan-based First Chinese agency.
“The classes really help prepare you. I wish my family could have been there when we were sworn in.” – Colletta Seales Home Health Aide Personal Touch, Home Care, Long Island City, Queens
Since the pandemic, more and more members are taking advantage of the free therapy provided by the Union benefit fund to come to terms with mental stress.
“When the pandemic first started in March 2020, it was like a whirlwind for us,” remembers Natasha Rodriguez, an RN member who was working at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx at the time, “On the Friday we had one patient in the ICU, but by the following Monday all 36 ICU beds were full. It felt chaotic and frightening. We were told that there was no medication and no cure, and
we were all afraid of taking it home with us.” Working in the ICU, Rodriguez was accustomed to losing patients. “Before the pandemic, we would usually see a couple of deaths a week. With COVID-19, we were seeing several deaths during each shift. “I wasn’t sharing my experience with anyone outside of my team. It was so traumatic for me, and I didn’t
Russell Smith, an 1199 Senior Billing Representative and member at the Montefiore Medical Center.
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OUR MEMBERS
Berta Motta, a home care member in New York City, for more than 30 years. Opposite page: Natasha Rodriguez, an ICU RN at St. Barnabas.
want to burden anyone else.” It wasn’t until COVID-19’s second wave in 2021 that Rodriguez realized that she still hadn’t dealt with her feelings. When she found out that the 1199SEIU Benefit Fund offered free, unlimited therapy, she made an appointment. Her grandmother had emigrated from Puerto Rico as a young woman, and Rodriguez was aware of the stigma around seeking therapy in her community. “But starting therapy was the best decision I have made in a long time,” says Rodriguez. “I was having PTSD-like
symptoms. I was waking up in the middle of the night sweating, believing that I’m at work and that I needed to shut off the alarm on the cardiac monitors,” she adds, “I tried to brush it off, but I realized that I could not handle it on my own. Once I had difficulty sleeping, I knew I had to get help.” Rodriguez saw a therapist for eight months and is now “sleeping like a baby.” She learned to be more compassionate with herself and not try to be a superhero all the time. Russell Smith, Senior Billing
Representative and member at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx for 29 years, was also conscious of the stigma around seeking the “talking cure.” He says: “As men, we can feel a lot of pressure to be the breadwinner and look after our spouse and our children. If we don’t talk about it, the pressure can build up until it affects our physical health,” adding, “We can get stuck with a machismo attitude. It is important to stop that nonsense and get over our egos. If you take care of yourself, it will help you to take care of others. “It is not enough to talk with
family and friends,” he advises. “It is better [to talk about it with] someone on the outside looking in. Your family loves you, but sometimes they are not going to tell you the real deal. You need someone to be brutally honest if you are going to heal and work through things.” Smith originally sought therapy to deal with a cancer diagnosis and has been attending therapy twice a week for the past two years. Thankfully, his cancer was treatable. “Everyone should seek a therapist,” he says, adding, “Everyone has struggles.
Rent, car note, child-care. Life in general is stressful.” As a home care member in New York City, Berta Motta, is also eligible for free therapy. Working in home care for more than 30 years, she knew exactly what to do when she witnessed an assault on one of her clients by their own family member. She filed a report with the agency and was re-assigned. But the incident left her shaken. “I was looking after a 21-year-old girl who was developmentally delayed and could not walk by herself. Her mother punched her in the head when she tried to grab a toy from a
toddler who was also in the house,” recalls Motta. “The girl didn’t mean anything by it. She was just playing. When I bathed her later, I saw she had a large red bump on her head.” The incident happened five years ago, but it remains fresh in her mind. “After my therapy sessions, I was able to let go of my sense of guilt. I became much calmer,” said Motta. “We often carry injuries inside ourselves. Sometimes we don’t express them because of the stigma. Therapy liberated me from the difficult feelings and helped me to heal.”
“I was having PTSD-like symptoms. I tried to brush it off, but I realized that I could not handle it on my own. Once I had difficulty sleeping, I knew I had to get help.” – Natasha Rodriguez, RN, St. Barnabas
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OUR HISTORY
A History of Fighting for
Opposite page: Members gather during the 1963 March on Washington to demand decent jobs.
Voting Rights Many 1199ers have been arrested to win ballot access, and the war is far from over
“What we win at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative chambers,” 1199 founder, Leon Davis, often reminded members. That is why 1199 could always be found on the front lines of political and legislative battles. The recent Senate defeat of the combined John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and The Freedom to Vote Act caused anger and disappointment but not resignation. Union members are taking part a nationwide social media campaign, using selfies with #IResolve to express their commitment to pressure key legislators to change their stance this year. Demanding universal voting rights has been 1199’s approach from its inception. The Union opposed Jim Crow voting laws and marched alongside allies long before the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). Ballot access was a frequent theme during the Union’s Negro History Week events in the 1940s and ’50s. Those events noted that full equality could never be attained without the full right to participate in the political life of the nation. Many 1199ers marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders for all who were denied the rights enshrined in the 15th Amendment of the Constitution, which states that the right to vote cannot be denied “on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.” Thousands of 1199ers traveled to the 1963 March on Washington. Among the clearly stated demands
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The original invitation to join the 1199 Delegation in the March on Washington, August 28, 1963. Even our youngest generations continue the fight for Voting Rights.
of the action were a comprehensive civil rights bill and protection of the right to vote. A turning point in the struggle to win the VRA was the historic Alabama march from Selma to Montgomery. 1199ers gave financial and moral support to leaders such as Dr. King, John Lewis, and lesserknown leaders such as Amelia Boynton and Dianne Nash during the voting-rights campaign. One year later, to encourage African Americans to vote, Stokely Carmichael, then chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordination Committee (SNCC), donned an 1199 cap—a symbol for both labor and civil rights—during The March Against Fear from Memphis, TN, to Jackson, MS. Since then, 1199 members have remained on the front lines of the fight. Beginning in 2013, s of 1199ers have been arrested for civil disobedience in North Carolina during Moral Monday demonstrations called to beat back racist redistricting and voter disenfranchisement laws as well as other economic and social justice issues. During such actions,1199ers also worked to broaden participation by making connections that others
The Brennan Center for Justice reports that last year 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting. In all, state legislatures enacted far more restrictive voting laws in 2021 than in any year since the Brennan Center began tracking voting legislation in 2011.
Just hours before the strike deadline, an agreement was reached that brought raises of 21.6 percent for 50,000 members at 56 hospitals and nursing homes.
may not see. One such connection is between civil rights and labor rights. At a 2013 Moral Monday rally, 1199 retiree Clifton Broady, now a North Carolina resident, tied the state’s repressive legislation to an attack on workers. “Right to work means that workers have no rights,” he said, condemning the anti-labor practice. Since Broady’s remarks, the situation has worsened considerably. Some of the most important enforcement mechanisms of the VRA have been decimated by a decade of rulings from a conservative U.S. Supreme Court.
The Brennan Center for Justice reports that last year 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting. During the same time, 49 state legislatures introduced more than 440 bills with provisions that restrict voting access. In all, state legislatures enacted far more restrictive voting laws in 2021 than in any year since the Brennan Center began tracking voting legislation in 2011. Allies in the fight for voting rights have vowed to press on. The old spiritual holds: “Freedom is a constant struggle.” So too is the fight for voting rights.
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Neighbors and friends created a memorial wall of flowers and photos of the victims of the deadly fire at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx. See page 10.
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