3 Immigration Injustice A Nursing Home member speaks out.
4 Solidarity Rally An injury to one is an injury to all.
5 The President’s Column We Lead Because We Must.
6 Around the Regions Kaleida Members Win on Staffing; Callen Lorde Healthcare Protected; CDC Caregivers Join 1199; First Contract: White Glove Home Care; Unlimited Care Victory; 1199 Social Worker Immortalized: Workplace Violence Bill Victory; Northwell Lab Members Win League Benefits.
10 Delegate Profile: Justin Eberlin A Republican member describes his disappointment with Medicaid cuts.
12 The Work We Do Garnet Health RNs
16 These Cuts Will Bleed Members up and down the East Coast joined the national Families First mobilization to protest drastic Medicaid cuts.
19 Coming Together Delegates from all the 1199 regions travelled to New York City in early June to be sworn in alongside the new leadership team.
20 Did You Forget Your I AM Federal Credit Union Account? Money in abandoned or dormant accounts is scheduled to be turned over to New York State.
22 Our History The Union’s 40-year battle to win fair wages and conditions for Home Care members.
Cover: Elena Argueta, a PCT at St John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, protesting Medicaid cuts in Midtown Manhattan with her 8-year-old son, Jaimir.
Immigrant Injustice
Annis Stewart, an 1199 CNA and member activist who has worked at a Brooklyn nursing home for the past 18 years, tells her story. Currently working in Dietary, she is studying to become an RN.
I love my work, and I love my residents. I know my coworkers, and we do the very best we can. But we could do so much more if we weren’t repeatedly fighting for the fair wages and benefits needed to recruit staff and keep them from leaving.
And now, since the Republicans took over in Washington DC, we’re facing a brand-new threat to our residents and our jobs. Over the past few weeks, management has taken 21 of my co-workers off the schedule because their immigration status was suddenly revoked. This is a huge blow. As CNAs, we are already working short, especially on the weekends. We often have to work double shifts.
Even the human resources department was against it, but said they were following orders from their corporate office. The CNAs who were removed from the schedule were immigrants from Haiti who were entitled to live in the US under the rules that had been in place before. They were good workers.
My co-workers and I are devastated by this. Our residents are mostly elderly, and it is hard for them to build a rapport with the CNAs as it is. If someone new suddenly takes over it often makes
them feel scared and nervous. The change can end up disturbing their treatment plan. For instance, they may stop eating properly.
This goes way beyond the workers themselves. It will affect their families, their children, their whole households. Many CNAs who work here are the sole breadwinners. I can imagine that some of the Haitian members were sending money back home too.
I can’t believe this is happening. It just doesn’t feel right. I’m having trouble eating and sleeping myself, knowing this is happening to other families.
The politicians are trying to get us to believe that it is immigrants who are making it harder for the rest of us to afford housing, groceries, healthcare and the like. But we know that’s not true. My co-workers who have lost their jobs for political reasons were hard workers. They contributed to the institution and paid taxes. It is the wealthy people who are getting huge tax breaks from the current administration we have to worry about. We know that we’re going to face overwhelming cuts to Medicaid funding to pay for these unjust tax breaks.
The politicians are trying to get us to believe that it is immigrants who are making it harder for the rest of us to afford housing, groceries, healthcare and the like. But we know that’s not true.
The reason the CNAs at Stewart’s workplace were eligible to stay in the US in the first place was because of humanitarian programs for immigrants from certain countries identified by the State Department. These countries, including Haiti, are experiencing so much violence and disorder that it is considered too dangerous for people who enter the US from
1199 Magazine
July-August 2025
Vol. 43 No.4
ISSN 2474-7009
Published by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East
498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018
(212) 582-1890
www.1199seiu.org
president
there to return home.
One program is called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) which applies to 15 countries at the moment, but the Republicans are pushing hard to cut it back. The other is called humanitarian parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV).
The second program has been taken away altogether.
Charles Nystrom Nadine Williamson executive vice
Jacqueline Alleyne
Michael Ashby
Lisa Brown
Andy Cassagnol
Roger Cumberbatch
Adekemi Gray
Todd Hobler
Leigh Howard
Benson Mathew
Cari Medina
Brian Morse
Roxey Nelson
Rona Shapiro
Greg Speller
Daine Williams
editor
Sarah Wilson art direction and design Maiarelli Studio director of photography Kim Wessels contributors
Leyla Adali
Marlishia Aho
April Ezzell
JJ Johnson
Desiree Taylor
1199 Magazine is published six times a year—January/ February, March/ April, May/June, July/ August, September/ October, November/ December—for $15.00 per year by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 1199 Magazine, 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018
Solidarity Rally
An injury to one is an injury to all.
1199ers in New York City assembled near City Hall on June 9 to raise their voices in protest against the unjust assault and detention of SEIU California President David Huerta by ICE the previous week. This rally was part of a larger movement of union members taking action from coast to coast because an attack on one is an attack on all of us.
“These violent arrests by federal agents are a blatant attack on the constitutional rights of every worker and every immigrant in this country; they run afoul of the most basic principles of free and democratic societies,” said 1199SEIU President Yvonne Armstrong. “Our labor movement will continue to resist the Trump administration’s indefensible attacks against immigrant communities, which are tearing families apart, stoking hatred and bigotry, and disrupting our economy.”
Huerta, a US citizen and longtime labor leader, was protesting the aggressive ICE raids throughout Los Angeles when he was arrested. Attending a rally himself, he was injured while being pushed to the ground by agents, who detained him without just cause. He was later released on a $50,000 bond. However, as this edition was going to press, he still faced conspiracy charges for impeding a federal officer. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
Elizabeth Rodriguez, an 1199 Senior Clerk at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, said at the NYC rally: “The way David was treated was just wrong. He was slammed to the floor and wrongfully detained. Living in NYC, we’re seeing a similar situation. People are being arrested and detained without due process. It’s unacceptable.”
Alicia Tucker, a home health
“People are being arrested and detained without due process. It’s unacceptable.”
– Elizabeth Rodriguez, an 1199 Senior Clerk at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
worker with Personal Touch, has been a 1199 member for 28 years. Originally from Ecuador, Tucker is now a US citizen. She added, “I’m here to support immigrants because I’m an immigrant myself. There is so much discrimination against immigrants right now. It has to stop.”
Another immigrant 1199er, Sheike Ward, an 1199 Activities Aide at The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing in Great Neck, who was there to show her solidarity said, “I was once an immigrant and I’m thankful to 1199. The Union assisted me with my citizenship, so that I can be out here speaking freely. I want my immigrant brothers and sisters to know they are not alone. They deserve a chance to be in this country. I got that chance and I’m here to support each and every one of them.”
Members in NYC turn out to protest the unjust assault and detention of SEIU California President David Huerta.
The President’s Column
Yvonne Armstrong
We Lead Because We Must
We are living through another defining moment for our Union, patients, and country. And just like generations of 1199ers before us, we are being called to lead.
For more than 90 years, 1199 members have stood at the heart of the fight for justice—organizing workers, transforming jobs, protecting healthcare, and defending our communities. We’ve led civil rights movements, passed landmark healthcare laws, and raised standards across the industry. Our strength has always come from our unity, clarity of purpose, and willingness to fight when it matters most. Today, it matters more than ever.
Republican leaders in Washington, DC just passed what I’m calling the “Big Ugly Bill”—a name that still doesn’t fully capture the harm it will cause to working families. This bill slashes Medicaid by $1 trillion. It’s the largest cut to health care in U.S. history. Every hospital, nursing home, clinic, pharmacy, and home care agency where 1199 members work will feel the impact.
But health care isn’t the only target. The bill also cuts SNAP and other food assistance programs that millions—including many of our members and their families—depend on to put food on the table. At a time when costs are rising, this bill takes away the basics: care, food, and dignity.
more fear in our workplaces, and more families torn apart.
In Brooklyn, for example, 1199 member Cassandra McGuire told us staffing is worsening at her nursing home—not because there aren’t enough workers, but because immigrant caregivers, regardless of status, are afraid to show up. The fear of being questioned, detained, or swept up in an ICE raid is real— and it’s creating a crisis in care.
In Massachusetts, 1199 PCA Janice Guzman joined SEIU’s Justice Journey to Louisiana and saw the horrific conditions in ICE detention centers—where people are packed into cages, being denied medical care, and in some cases, dying from neglect.
When our co-workers are targeted, when fear replaces safety on the job, when patients go without care, and families without food, it weakens all of us. 1199 has always stood for the dignity and humanity of every worker. Our fight must include standing with immigrant members and defending the programs our communities rely on. We don’t back down when any of us is under attack. We fight together, win together, and move forward together.
you already give. These cuts didn’t happen by accident—they’re the result of elections where the wrong people got into power. The only way we stop these attacks, take back the House, and win for working families is by organizing politically with the same unity we bring to our contract fights.
Here’s the truth: the only way we change the direction of this country is by organizing at full strength. That means building power at the ballot box and in the streets. And that starts with each of us.
Sign up today to contribute to 1199’s Political Action Fund—or increase your contribution. Whether $5, $10, or more each month, your support fuels the movement to defend Medicaid, protect SNAP, safeguard our jobs, and elect leaders who fight for working people.
When we show up together, armed with our stories, our strategy, and our solidarity—there’s nothing we can’t do.
We don’t back down when any of us is under attack. We fight together, win together, and move forward together.
The token giveaways—like a narrow tax break on overtime— are temporary and riddled with loopholes. They’re meant to distract us from the truth: this is a massive transfer of wealth away from our communities and into the pockets of the ultra-rich.
And that’s not all. While gutting essential programs, the bill quadruples federal funding for immigration raids and detention. That means more ICE raids,
That’s why Secretary-Treasurer Veronica Turner-Biggs and I have launched a unionwide Listening Tour—visiting worksites, talking with delegates, and meeting members across all five states. We want to hear your ideas, your concerns, and your priorities. And we want to build a real plan of action—together—that puts members at the center.
Because our power doesn’t come from the top, it comes from each of us doing our part.
That includes taking political action. If you haven’t yet contributed to 1199’s Political Action Fund, I’m asking you to step up— or increase your contribution if
Around the Regions
Kaleida Members Win on Staffing
Just two hours before a Strike Authorization Vote was set to begin, 8,000 hospital workers at Western New York’s largest private sector employer reached a tentative, threeyear contract agreement in late July.
The union members were demanding improvements in benefits and wages to help recruit and retain staff at Kaleida Health’s Hospitals, Nursing Homes, and
Clinics across Western New York.
The workers are represented by 1199SEIU and the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Because staffing levels are such an important issue for members, the agreement includes provisions for an expedited arbitration process if recurring staff shortages are identified. This new enforcement language can include financial pen-
Callen Lorde Healthcare Protected
Members at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City agreed to a new three-year contract on July 25, which includes across-the-board pay increases of 11 percent over the life of the contract. These increases come on top of the 2 percent management offered ahead of the negotiations. Members were also able to stand firm against management proposals to add deductibles to their health insurance. Preston Leslie, (second from right in photograph) an 1199 Delegate in Behavioral Health, said: “We convinced management that imposing a $1,000 deductible would stop members from seeking medical care. They would then end up taking medical leave.
“The pay increase we won will finally enable us to catch up with the cost of living.”
“I feel relieved they finally value our years of service as long-term employees”
– Janice Bennett, a cook and 1199SEIU Chairperson at Buffalo General Medical Center
alties issued by an arbitrator.
The agreement includes a 10 percent across-the-board wage increase over the life of the contract. The employer recognized longevity and dedication by adding a new wage step at the 25th year of service, which includes an additional 3 percent wage increase.
“I’ve worked for Kaleida for more than 37 years, and I am so happy they finally acknowledged long-term employees with a 25-year step increase. We invested a lot of time at Kaleida through mergers, COVID, and changes in the healthcare industry. I feel relieved they finally value our years of service as long-term employees,” said Janice Bennett, a cook and 1199SEIU Chairperson at Buffalo General Medical Center.
The agreement covers unionized health care workers employed at Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children’s Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, HighPointe on Michigan, DeGraff Medical Park, and various community-based clinics across Western New York.
Members celebrate Kaleida win.
Callen Lorde protect their healthcare plan.
Union members work as Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Professionals, Technical Employees, Clinicians, and Business Office Clerical, Service and Maintenance staff at three major hospitals, two nursing homes, and a variety of clinics across Erie and Niagara Counties.
CDC Caregivers Join 1199
Roughly 3,000 caregivers in a Massachusetts statefunded homecare program for seniors voted to join 1199SEIU in late July.
The Consumer Directed Care (CDC) program allows seniors to train, schedule, direct, and supervise their own caregivers to assist with homemaking tasks and personal care so they can live independently at home. 1199SEIU already represents more than 58,000 home healthcare workers who serve seniors and people with disabilities through the state’s MassHealth-funded Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program. CDC caregivers perform the same duties as PCAs, but had not been recognized as part of their bargaining unit. In 2023, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law allowing CDC caregivers the right to form a union under the Executive Office of Aging and Independence, just like their PCA peers.
“For me and many of my fellow CDC caregivers, who believed we were already a part of 1199SEIU, this victory is long overdue,” said Luz Echeverry, a CDC caregiver from Lawrence. “I love caring for others, and now I will be able to fight for my own well-being and future.”
CDC caregivers receive a base wage of $19.50/ hr, below what 1199SEIU PCAs won in their current contract. They are also excluded from a wage scale that pays more to PCAs with additional years of experience and from training and advancement opportunities.
“Thousands of homecare workers in Massachusetts care for older adults and people with disabilities in their homes. They all deserve the same wages and benefits, regardless of which state program the person they care for is enrolled in,” said Rebecca Gutman, 1199SEIU Vice President of Homecare.
CDC caregivers will bargain with the state’s newly formed CDC Workforce Council starting in the fall.
NYC home care members celebrate first contract.
(Far Left) Massachusetts home care workers vote to join 1199.
First Contract: White Glove Home Care
The 2,500 new home care members with the Brooklyn-based White Glove Community Care agency celebrated their first win on June 24. Their contract includes increases to pay and benefits amounting to an almost 11 percent raise over the life of the twoyear contract for members in New York City. The employer agreed to contribute to an Employee’s Flexible Benefits Card. The money on this card is not taxable, and can be used for a variety of expenses, including medicine, transportation, and childcare costs.
NEW JERSEY
Around the Regions
Unlimited Care Victory
In July, less than 24 hours after 1199ers picketed Unlimited Care, a home care agency in White Plains, NY, management signed a contract guaranteeing workers’ raises and benefits.
Unlimited Care is short-changing us,” said home care member Irma L. Vargas as she picketed the agency, where she has worked for seven years. “I love my work and want to keep doing it, but I also need a living wage and good benefits.”
New York State Senator Shelley B. Mayer and Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins joined the workers protesting Unlimited Care’s refusal to sign a fair contract with their dedicated staff.
The protest came after members negotiated an agreement with Unlimited Care four months earlier, including wage increases and maintaining their benefits. But, management refused to sign that contract. Unlimited Care is a licensed home care agency that markets itself as helping: “secure the highest quality health care services.” The protesting workers said that they are committed to providing the highest quality care, but were concerned about how much longer they could continue doing this vital work in one of the most expensive communities in the country without a contract that allows them to keep up with the cost of living.
NEW
1199 Social Worker Immortalized
Monnie Callan Way was unveiled on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on June 14, commemorating a much-admired former 1199 Delegate and Social Worker who fiercely defended workers’ rights throughout her life.
“People who are wealthy can’t imagine what working people may suffer… and they often don’t care. Unions are the only way that workers can get what they need from the bosses,” she told the 1199 Magazine in 2017, when she was interviewed at age 90.
“For me, the Union is like an extended family, all working together to make the world a better place for everyone,” she added.
During the 1980’s, working as a social work coordinator at Montefiore, Callan was dedicated to patients affected by the HIV virus in the early stages of the epidemic. During Callan’s tenure, Montefiore launched an early response to the disease, earning the designation of one of the first comprehensive AIDS centers in New York State. Callan was among the 1199ers who attended the First International AIDS Conference in Paris in 1986.
“I love
my work and want to keep doing it, but I also need a living wage and good benefits.”
– Irma L. Vargas, home care member
Informational picket outside Unlimited Care in White Plains, NY
Upper West Side street in Manhattan dedicated to former 1199 social worker, Monnie Callan
YORK
NEW YORK
Workplace Violence
Bill Victory
New legislation amends NYS Public Health Law to protect healthcare workers by requiring hospitals and nursing homes to develop workplace violence safety and security prevention programs.
Members from 1199SEIU and the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) joined forces to lobby lawmakers in Albany to amend the public health law by requiring hospitals and nursing homes to develop and implement comprehensive workplace violence safety and prevention programs and improve security in emergency rooms.
By passing bills S5294A/ A203A sponsored by Assembly Member Catalina Cruz and Senator Luis Sepulveda, the state legislators took critical steps toward improving the health and safety of New York’s hospitals and nursing homes.
Workplace violence is an epidemic that is getting worse. This legislation will help ensure that nurses and other frontline caregivers are protected and that
patients and their families can receive care in safe environments.
Healthcare workers thank Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for prioritizing this crucial legislation. They will continue to advocate for policies that ensure that hospitals and nursing homes remain places of health and healing where all can receive care without fear.
Northwell Lab Members Win League Benefits
Workplace violence is an epidemic that is getting worse. This legislation will help ensure that nurses and other frontline caregivers are protected and that patients and their families can receive care in safe environments.
In the early morning hours of July 24, after 30 hours of bargaining over two days, new members at Northwell Health’s Core Testing Facilities and Little Neck Parkway labs reached a tentative agreement in their first contract—averting strike action.
More than 850 staff at Core Testing Facilities voted to join 1199SEIU last September, uniting with hundreds of fellow lab workers at the Little Neck Parkway site who joined the Union the previous December.
The agreement includes 11 percent raises over the life of the contract. The new members won the full terms of the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes contract including the 1199 National Benefit Fund no cost health insurance and the Pension, Training and Upgrading, Childcare and Job Security funds.
Members in Albany pressing for workplace violence legislation
1199 Northwell lab members working together
Delegate Profile:
Justin Eberlin
A Republican member from Upstate New York describes how his political beliefs were shaped.
For many members, the value of worker solidarity was imprinted at an early age. For these 1199ers, belonging to a union seems like the most natural thing in the world. Their parents and grandparents learned about collective bargaining the hard way, by fighting for their rights. But another group of members comes to the struggle fresh and is learning about it from their own experiences.
Justin Eberlin, an 1199 Surgical Technician at Guthrie Corning Hospital, is one of those members who had to be convinced for himself. When fellow 1199ers at what was then Corning Hospital went on strike in 2003, Eberlin was just 21 years old. He had recently taken on a mortgage and wanted to make sure he had enough money coming in to make the payments. So, he crossed the picket line.
“It is not a proud moment. It was not until afterwards that I truly understood the brother and sisterhood of a union and the power of collective action,” said Eberlin. When everyone returned to work following the strike, he added: “I felt the same level of disrespect from management [as everyone else] – as though my loyalty [to them] counted for nothing.”
Two decades later, Eberlin has a very different view of unions. He has stepped up to be a Union Delegate and is also moving up the ranks in local government. He recently won the Republican primary for County Legislator in Steuben County. Living and working in a rural part of Upstate New York, near the Pennsylvania border, most of Eberlin’s neighbors are registered Republicans. “In these parts in New York, all the Republicans are MAGA. If you’re not MAGA, you not even considered to be a Republican,” says Eberlin, “But to me, part of being an adult is that you have to be able to see both sides.”
Eberlin does not identify with the MAGA movement. “I consider myself to be a Republican mainly because of demographics,” he says, “I grew up hunting and fishing alongside outdoorsy, roughneck type of people who value their rights under the Second Amendment. [This amendment to the US Constitution mentions the right to bear arms.] The need for small government also stands out to me. I don’t think the government should be involved in every aspect of our lives.”
Eberlin met his wife in high
school and has been married for 22 years. They have three children aged 15-19. In his spare time from his Surgical Technician job, he runs a small family farm that produces chicken, eggs, and pork. The primary market for his farmed merchandise is his fellow hospital workers.
Eberlin voted for former President Obama in the past. But in 2024, “the Democrats weren’t looking to grab Upstate New York males. It didn’t feel like they were speaking to me.” Eberlin voted for President Trump last year but has growing concerns about the party’s direction.
“At our hospital, our community is classified as underserved and many patients rely on Medicaid for their health insurance,” he said. “The nearest hospital is about a 45-minute drive to northern Pennsylvania.
“When I say I believe in small government, I don’t mean we should cut away programs like Medicaid that are continuously helping people,” added Eberlin. He believes that society should care for the elderly, disabled, veterans, and children in need.
The tax and spending bill passed by the Republican-dominated US Congress in July made “the opposite of sense to me,” said Eberlin. This bill will potentially hurt the people who have the most to lose.
JUSTIN EBERLIN
1199 Surgical Technician at Guthrie Corning Hospital
Looking at the Steuben County budget, which he will have a part in managing if elected County Legislator in November, Eberlin recognizes that they may have to consider property tax increases to pay for some of the funding gaps left by the federal cuts. “If they cut federal taxes and we have to pay more property taxes,” added Eberlin, “What is the point?”
In March, Eberlin traveled to Washington, DC, with fellow 1199ers to lobby Congressman Nicholas Langworthy, and other Republicans, urging them not to vote for Medicaid cuts.
“It was amazing for me, being a government nerd, and seeing how things actually happened. While walking from building to building, there were in-depth, important conversations in the hallways. You know, you have seen that stuff in movies, but to see it firsthand was eye-opening,” said Eberlin.
Congressman Langworthy “skipped out on us” and left his aide to take the meeting with the visiting 1199 constituents.
“I wrote him a letter at the beginning of March raising concerns about the potential job losses in the district that were likely to follow significant cuts to federal Medicaid funding,” says Eberlin. He never received a response.
“I found that really disappoint-
ing. I’m just a local elected official. But I make time to listen to everyone. I make my phone number available; I may not answer every call, but I return the calls of every person who leaves a message,” he added.
As an elected official himself, Eberlin also believes it is essential to represent everyone, not simply those with similar life experiences. He spoke about learning a different perspective from a visiting nurse from Ghana. She heard me complaining about working overtime and said, ‘Let me get this straight. You’re complaining about making more money. Where I come from, people are starving and wish they could work more and make money.’
“I now have a new mindset about overtime. I thank the doctor I’m working for and think about my retirement fund.”
Eberlin says the only way to heal the divisions in this country is for everyone to start making the effort to listen to and understand others who might not necessarily share the same traditions, beliefs, or traits.
“We need to educate ourselves from multiple sources and be more open-minded,” says Eberlin, “Maybe some of those MAGA people should quit watching Fox News all the time and tune into NPR once in a while.”
“When I say I believe in small government, I don’t mean we should cut away programs like Medicaid that are continuously helping people.”
– Justin Eberlin, 1199 Surgical Technician at Guthrie Corning Hospital
The Work We Do: Garnet Health RNs
For many 1199 RN members, nursing is not simply a profession, but a calling. Even though the work may often be emotionally and physically challenging, it is also deeply rewarding. 1199 Magazine recently caught up with a group of nurses at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, NY, which has had a strong Union presence since 1987 when members first organized there.
1. During her ten years as a Labor and Delivery nurse, Melissa D’Altilio has learned a lot. She is cross-trained to work in the NICU and floats there sometimes to care for the more stable babies. She’s been using the 1199SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund to study for her Master’s Degree and will become a Certified Nurse Midwife in two years. Now, she helps educate expectant mothers and calm their anxieties. “They often don’t realize that it is normal to have the shakes and feel nauseous during childbirth,” says D’Altilio, “If your water breaks, it doesn’t necessarily mean that birth is imminent.”
On the other hand, she helps families understand the potential risks involved, particularly for those considering home births. “It is not necessarily a good idea to give birth at home and refuse everything. Unexpected things can go wrong that cannot be predicted,” she says. At home, there is no baby warmer on hand; no NICU or neo-natal specialists; no possibility of an emergency C-section or OR to deal with a postpartum hemorrhage.
D’Altilio remembers a case where the mother’s labor had been going smoothly for 45 minutes, when it suddenly turned into a shoulder dystopia—the baby’s shoulder was stuck inside. “There was no fetal heart rate, so we immediately began running a full code,” she says, adding: “We were well prepared. Everything came together and the mother and baby are fine.”
D’Altilio enjoys being present during birth. “We are with people on the most special days of their lives,” she says. “Giving birth never ceases to amaze me.”
2. Daniel Conroy has worked in mental health for 37 years, starting his career doing intake. When he
first became an RN roughly 25 years ago, the nurses were not yet 1199 members. Now, Conroy is on the Labor/Management committee and recently helped negotiate the introduction of 12-hour shifts instead of eight. “They finally heard me on work/life balance,” he said.
Managing his own emotions is also part of the job. “We’re always on a roll from the time we arrive at 7am. I’m meeting with patients to assess for safety and their risk of suicide or overdose,” says Conroy, adding that it changed his way of thinking on the rare occasions in his career when patients had taken their own lives. “But it also helped me to spot red flags. Someone telling me they wished they didn’t wake up the next day is different than having them describe a specific plan,” he says.
People with mental health problems are often invisible, remaining in the background without a voice, says Conroy. “If you are struggling with your mental health, it doesn’t have to mean you are hearing voices or are totally out of your mind. Depression and anxiety are common,” he adds, emphasizing that it is a small proportion of mentally ill people who push people onto the subway tracks or perpetrate any sort of violence.
But when multiple stressors are happening at once and there’s not enough support, people may harm themselves. “A psychiatrist once told me that a lot of people die from their illnesses, and we can’t save everyone. Some people succumb,” says Conroy. This advice helped him come to terms with the losses.
“People say they don’t like to work on a mental health ward,” he says, “But the fact is that all nurses deal with mental health issues. It is not just the medical piece that hospital nurses deal with. There is always an emotional piece too.”
“We are with people on the most special days of their lives. Giving birth never ceases to amaze me.”
– Melissa D’Altilio Labor and Delivery nurse
The Work We Do: Garnet Health RNs
3. Jessica Wood started as a Unit Clerk and became a nurse about 20 years ago. She now works in the specialized field of Interventional Radiology (IR) and Diagnostic Imaging (DI). This involves sedating patients for procedures such as removing blood clots, and also obtaining consent and checking documentation. Some patients will need bedside tests, which she will administer.
For the DI tests, she describes to patients what it will feel like and why the study is necessary. “I am good at talking patients off the ledge and helping them relax during diagnostic testing and procedures,” she says, “Reading your patients is an art.”
“Nurses need to remember that we are the patients’ advocate and we are there to tell the doctor when they feel uncomfortable. That is what you would want if you were a patient.”
Wood is also responsible for reading the monitors and alerting the team if something is wrong. “The physician focuses on the procedure, and the nurse is focused on the patient,” she says.
On the potential cuts to healthcare funding following the recent Republican-imposed legislation in Washington DC, she says: “The only way we make a change is by using our voice. Going to DC and going to Albany. Saying nothing means that you agree.”
4. “From the moment you clock in until the moment you clock out, it doesn’t stop in the ER. We act as a funnel to the rest of the hospital,” says Stephanie Blasko, an RN Delegate who has been an 1199er since she started out as a Nursing Assistant.
“In an emergency, you have to keep your head on straight, but I thrive under pressure. I’m the rock that waves crash against.”
During the pandemic, Blasko was pregnant and had to work with COVID patients before the vaccine was available. She got through it because she was part
of a strong team that was always there with an extra pair of hands and sometimes a hug.
Not too long ago, the team was faced with a mass casualty when a bus carrying Long Island band students on their way to play in a concert tipped into a ravine. They all required hospital treatment; their teacher did not survive. “People who come into the ER with a toothache don’t realize that while they are waiting, we are doing our best to save lives,” said Blasko.
Maintaining staffing ratios is crucial to providing effective patient care, which is why she joined the staffing committee. “I like to educate people who think that the Union is just there to protect lazy workers,” she adds.
“Patient care takes a toll on nurses and doctors. Every patient who dies, even though you know it is not your fault, you always leave with some sense of regret.”
“People who come into the ER with a toothache don’t realize that while they are waiting, we are doing our best to save lives.”
– Stephanie Blasko, an RN Delegate
5. When Linda Chudow first became an RN in 1983, she was no fan of unions, adding: “I thought they were strident and unreasonable.” More than four decades later, her outlook has completely changed. “The most important thing is having a seat at the table where they treat us as equals,” she says. As a former bargaining committee member, she found negotiations “so exhilarating, and my big mouth came in handy.”
Chudow spent most of her career working in the ICU. Now that she is 72-years-old, she’s moved into the less physically demanding role of pre-surgical testing.
“Now, I interview patients over the telephone, taking their histories and checking up on their lab work and procedures,” she says, “It’s nice for some of the patients to have an older nurse doing screening and intake. Lately, patients have been talking to me about their concerns around losing care provided by Medicaid.”
Chudow misses the ICU but is glad she can continue working. She says, “I’m supporting several family members after my husband was forced to take early retirement for health reasons. “I grew up with food challenges. Rich to me
is not having to put anything back at the supermarket and helping others in need. “Being a nurse is the best job in the world. You meet someone who is a perfect stranger, and the next thing you know, they are bearing their soul. To lift them up and give them agency is wonderfully rewarding. Nursing isn’t what you do. It is who you are.”
6. “My father was a shop steward with UPS, and my husband is also a union member, so I come from a strong union-focused family,” says Kayla Mishoe, a newly elected Delegate who began working at Garnet’s surgical ICU two years ago. Because of her department’s acuity level, the staffing ratio is 2-to-1, with each nurse responsible for no more than two cases. “We look after patients who require specialized care, like those who’ve had cardiac arrests. We also help perform planned procedures where there is a risk of stroke or bleeding out. We have to know how to treat emerging situations and make split-second decisions,” says Mishoe, “We look after some of the sickest patients in the hospital who could die very quickly.”
She adds that nurses are only as good as their team. “We had a young woman come in who was side-swiped by a truck, and we had to intubate her for two days. When we could extubate her safely, she got up and started showing me photos of her kids.” Sometimes she goes home feeling like she made a difference.
Mishoe became a Delegate so she could use her voice and leadership skills to ensure that management was respectful to everyone on the team and that no one was overly disciplined. “The quality of nursing care is better when nurses are satisfied with their jobs,” she adds. She came into the profession just as COVID started, which wasn’t easy, adding: “Nursing can be traumatic and it takes a strong person to do the job. Sometimes you have to extubate a patient who has no one and let them die. Then you have to go home and act like it didn’t happen. I never forget the names or faces of any of those patients who have died.”
Will Bleed These Cuts
Members joined the national Families First mobilization to raise awareness of the dangers to working people posed by Republican plans to drastically cut Medicaid funding while beefing up ICE budgets.
1199 healthcare workers in six cities up and down the East Coast took to the streets on July 26 in solidarity with thousands of working people across all 50 states to demand care, not cuts.
All around the country, the “Families First” mobilization brought together workers, parents, immigrants, patients, and allies to expose a $4.5 trillion theft from working people, perpetrated by Congress on July 4 when they passed an unjust spending bill. It hands tax breaks to billionaires, while funding mass deportations by
ICE, and slashing funding for health care, education, and food aid.
No matter their race, income, or where they come from, 1199ers all want to care for their families. But the discriminatory bill will result in drastic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, child care, and higher education, while enriching ICE, polluters, and the ultra-rich.
1199 members joined mass mobilizations in Manhattan and Rochester, NY, Newark, NJ, Boston, MA, Washington, DC, and Miami, FL, to demonstrate their commitment to overturning these
Florida Members from UHealth Tower Hospital in Miami rallying in Florida.
New York Rose Gentle, a member from Rebekah Rehab & Extended Care Center in the Bronx, rallying in Manhattan.
Massachusetts Saira Ruiz (right), an 1199 PCA from New Bedford, MA, turns out for Families First in Boston.
cuts and to raise public awareness about what is at risk.
Members marching along one of the wealthiest boulevards in Manhattan pushed empty shopping carts and wheelchairs to represent the “reverse Robin Hood” theft being executed against working people.
“This is not something that the billionaires should be able to get away with,” said Melinda Sheffield, an 1199 LPN who works at a Bronx nursing home. “These cuts will affect our patients and us as healthcare workers. If our facilities close, we will lose our jobs and finding new ones won’t be easy. This is not just about health care. It is about everything –especially in New York City. It’s very pricey living here, and you can’t just decide that you’re not going to pay your bills this month.”
Sheffield said she felt compelled to take a stand to support those struggling and who rely on Medicaid.
“I feel it’s essential to show up if I’m able to, especially because I’ve seen the cuts affect our patients,” Beret Otero agreed. She was protesting the Medicaid cuts at a rally in front of Boston Medical Center. An 1199 Health Care Assistant at Planned Parenthood in Boston, Otero warned that the center where she works stands to lose roughly half of its operating budget because of the radical Republican bill.
Rochester
A graduate student joins 1199ers protesting in Rochester, NY
DC Members from Whitman Walker Health Center marching in Washington DC. (right to left) Soener Jaramillo, her daughter, Joyce Jackson and Claudia Martinez.
“If our facilities close, we will lose our jobs and it won’t be so easy to find new ones. This is not just about health care. It is about everything.”
– Melinda Sheffield, an 1199 LPN who works at a Bronx nursing home
Also marching in Boston was Franswa Jean-Enard, an 1199 PCA who cares for his mother. He said he was anxious that she could be stripped of her health care benefits “at any time” because of the cuts, even though he has “all the paperwork to justify her need for it.” She has several conditions, including advanced arthritis, and relies on Medicaid for “all her care,” including physical therapy and medication.
Jean-Enard said it was important for him to protest because even if he isn’t personally affected, he doesn’t want other people to lose access to lifesaving treatment. “Back home in Haiti, there’s a saying: When your friend’s or neighbor’s beard is on fire, put yours in order —which means when something is happening to your neighbor, it could happen to you,” he said.
Ida Davis, an 1199 Delegate from Prince George’s County, Maryland, has been a healthcare worker for over 40 years. Speaking at the rally on the National Mall in Washington DC, she said: “At my hospital, we are already struggling. There is a severe staff shortage. It impacts us and our patients. “Patients sometimes must wait hours to be seen in triage, and then another twelve to fourteen hours to receive care. Each nurse cares for 7, 9, and sometimes 10 patients at once.
Since hospitals depend on Medicaid for funding, staffing problems will worsen if these drastic cuts are made. Furthermore, if vulnerable patients lose their health coverage, they won’t be able to access preventative care and will be more likely to seek treatment in the emergency room, increasing the number of patients,” added Davis. She spoke of a family member who was dependent on Medicaid for his care and medication. “I don’t know what he will do after these cuts. It keeps me up at night,” said Davis, “I should be thinking about retiring. Instead, I’m considering getting a second job to pay for his care.”
Coming Together
Delegates from all the 1199 regions travelled to New York City in early June to be sworn in alongside the new leadership team.
On June 6, 1199SEIU began a new chapter in our proud history. Nearly 2,000 Delegates and Officers from every region of our union gathered to be sworn in alongside newly elected President Yvonne Armstrong and Secretary-Treasurer Veronica Turner-Biggs—united in a shared pledge to rebuild our Union with transparency, accountability, and member power at the center.
For Debra Williams, a Dietary Aide from Tamarac Rehabilitation Center near Fort Lauderdale, the moment was powerful—and personal.
“Members are the number one priority, without the members we have no union,” said Williams, “So far [President Armstrong] has been open and honest with the members and I’m very excited to see what more she has to offer.”
Just weeks after the ceremony, Williams traveled with the Union to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress on Medicaid protections—an issue that hits home. Her daughter, who has cerebral palsy, relies on Medicaid for doctor visits and hospital transportation.
“Without it, she wouldn’t get the care she needs,” said Williams. “We need bigger and better fights for living wages too—so we’re not working two or three jobs just to make ends meet.”
As working families face growing threats to their healthcare and rights, 1199’s new leadership has made clear: our Union will be a bold political force, fighting at every level to protect Medicaid, defend immigrant communities, and raise industry standards.
Monica Lopez-Gamboa, a Licensed Creative Art Therapist and newly sworn-in Delegate, also traveled to the ceremony from her workplace at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. Just weeks earlier, she had joined a delegation in Albany to successfully advocate for the inclusion of her profession on the state Medicaid provider list.
“At Montefiore, most of our patients are immigrants or low-income Medicaid recipients,” said Lopez-Gamboa. “As a first-generation Filipina, becoming a Delegate is my way of fighting for mental health equity and culturally responsive care. It’s an extension of my
clinical work—elevating the voices of both patients and providers.”
Nadine Clerge, a Certified Nursing Assistant at Complete Care Nursing Home in Marcella, New Jersey, helped kick off the ceremony by introducing a video presentation. An 1199 Delegate for nine years and an immigrant from Haiti, Clerge is currently preparing for U.S. citizenship with support from the union’s Citizenship Program.
“I’m proud to be a part of this Union because I know it stands up for all working people, including immigrants,” said Clerge. “As politicians in DC are attacking our rights, standing tall and proud together is more important than ever.”
On August 7, President Armstrong and Secretary-Treasurer Turner-Biggs launched a nationwide Listening Tour, traveling to every 1199 region to hear directly from members—gathering their ideas, experiences, and hopes for what comes next.
Because this new chapter isn’t just about leadership. It’s about all of us—writing the future of our union, together.
“Members are the number one priority, without the members we have no union.”
– Debra Williams, 1199 Dietary Aide at Tamarac Rehabilitation Center near Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Did You Forget Your I AM
Federal Credit Union Account?
Money in abandoned or dormant accounts is scheduled to be turned over to New York State.
Are you a member of the I AM Federal Credit Union? It’s vital to keep your share accounts with the credit union active. New York State law requires that all financial institutions report any account that is considered dormant or inactive, and turn them over as abandoned property. Any account that has been without activity for three years is considered inactive.
We are required by law to publish this list of dormant account holders. A report of these unclaimed funds will also be sent to the New York State Comptroller.
Listed persons appear to be entitled to these funds. The full list is on file and available for public inspection at the I AM Federal Credit Union, located on the 2nd floor of at 498 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.
Held amounts of funds will be paid to proven, entitled parties by the I AM Federal Credit Union through October 31, 2025. Remaining unclaimed funds will be turned over to the New York State Comptroller’s Office on or before November 10, 2025. For more information visit the I AM Federal Credit Union, or call (212) 957-1055.
Karine Aber 3152 Brighton 6th Street Apt. 619 Brooklyn, NY 11235
Ewart M. Abrams 14426 228th Street Laurelton, NY 11413
Oluwayemisi M. Adesina 16417 107th Avenue Jamaica, NY 11433
Temitope O. Agbeniyi 901 Drew St., Apt. 307 Brooklyn, NY 11208
Nadine Claudette Allen 454 S 3rd Ave., # 1FL Mount Vernon, NY 10550
Yovanny Ventura Almonte
300 E. 143rd St., Apt.. 8A Bronx, NY 10451
Renee L. Alvin 259 Olivia St., Apt. 1 Portchester, NY 10573
Suzette Anderson 437 E. 53rd Street Brooklyn, NY 11203
Brittani Andrews
185 Saint Marks Place, 16G Staten Island, NY 10301
Brenton Antoine 1539 Sterling Pl. #3B Brooklyn, NY 11213
Wilma M. Archer 1604 Eastern Pkwy., Apt. 3A Brooklyn, NY 11233
Annette Armstrong 700 Lenox Avenue Apt. #23E New York, NY 10039
Rosalind Elaine Babrow 1039 E. 212th St. PH Bronx, NY 10469
Maria R. Baez 551 W. 174th St., Apt. 2 New York, NY 10033
Heather Rowena Bailey 854 Ocean Ave. #3F Brooklyn, NY 11223
Pamela Balram 114-14 150th Avenue S. Ozone Park, NY 11420
Clinton S. Bartley
720 E. 231st Street Bronx, NY 10466
Bertha Bell
181 East 161 Street 6-D Bronx, NY 10451
Pauline M. Bennett 855 Glenmore Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11208
Osvaldo Bernard 159 Opal Street Elmont, NY 11003
Bianca Blake 14576 181st Street Springfield Gardens, NY 11413
Nuch G. Bonah 153 Brabant St., Apt. 5C Staten Island, NY 10303
Erachie Brown 145-40 243rd Street #1 Rosedale, NY 11422
Andrea N. Bryan
448 E. 94th St., Apt. 5B Brooklyn, NY 11212
Enita M. Bryan 777 E. 31st St., Apt. 5V Brooklyn, NY 11210
Genesis Caba 15 Duane Place Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Joanne A. Cabrera 443 Marion Street #2 Brooklyn, NY 11233
Mary J. Cahill 415 Beverley Road 2E Brooklyn, NY 11218
Danielle Jamila Calliste 1862 E. 51st Street Brooklyn, NY 11234
Sonia N. Candelaria 955 Main St., Apt. 1109 Bridgeport, CT 6604
Luz C. Cardona 4196 Gleane St., Apt. D9 Elmhurst, NY 11373
Anny M. Carrion 363 Walker Street Staten Island, NY 10303
Marcos Castro 2081 2nd Ave., Apt. 14C New York, NY 10029
Eddie O. Castro 754 Rathbun Ave. Staten Island, NY 10309
Mariatou Ceesay 20 Metropolitan Oval, Apt. 2A Bronx, NY 10462
Joan H. Charles 2011 Linden Blvd. Brooklyn, NY 11207
Olga M. Chavez 434 W. Oak Ridge Road #106 Orlando, FL 32809
Salvatore G. Ciano 1059 40th Street Brooklyn, NY 11219
Andrea C. Clarke P.O. Box 900476 Far Rockaway, NY 11690
Ginette Colasme 4507 Avenue H #2FL Brooklyn, NY 11234
Julissa Contreras 809A Union Avenue Bronx, NY 10459
Geoffrey D. Cordero 110 Purser Pl., Apt. 2R Yonkers, NY 10705
Mary Crosson 27 Dorlon Street Hempstead, NY 11550
Jeffrey Cruz 516 44th St. #1FL Brooklyn, NY 11220
Angelique Davis 1309 5th Ave., Apt. 34-G New York, NY 10029
Launa L. Davis 168 Clinton Avenue Newark, NJ 07108
Gloria Deroy 10750 166th Street Jamaica, NY 11433
Omeika V. Dhanpaul 148-04 116th Avenue Jamaica, NY 11436
Diane Di Trapani 1128 Wilcox Avenue, Bsmnt Bronx, NY 10465
Juana M. Diaz 204 Sherman Ave., Apt. 1E New York, NY 10034
John A. Doe
310 W. 43rd St. 2nd FL New York, NY 10036
Desiree D Duncan 4140 Baychester Avenue Bronx, NY 10466
Marie Easterling 80 Newport St., Apt. 3B Brooklyn, NY 11212
Cornelius O. Ebunyebe 97-28 57th Ave., Apt. 9M Corona, NY 11368
Shawn J. Edwards
152 W. 144th St., Apt. 53 New York, NY 10030
Edith E. English
2901 Avenue I, Apt. 4D Brooklyn, NY 11210
Marisol Espinosa
132 Kramer St., Apt. 5B Staten Island, NY 10305
Mildred Espinosa 2916 Miles Ave., PH Bronx, NY 10465
Marva Evanson 1720 S 58th Street Philadelphia, PA 19143
Kula Fahnbulleh
180 Parkhill Avenue Staten Island, NY 10304
Lisandra Natividad Feliz
1641 Madison Ave., Apt. 6B New York, NY 10029
Sonia L. Ferguson
2689 Heath Ave., PH Bronx, NY 10463
Wisline Fils-Leopold 39 Sterling Road Elmont, NY 11003
Magnan Fofana
257 W. 116th Street #3F New York, NY 10026
Rochelle A. Forehand
346 Beach 48th Street Far Rockaway, NY 11691
Therese C. Forrester
3444 Fish Ave., Apt. 1B Bronx, NY 10469
Ouida Foster 863 North Street Peekskill, NY 10566
Sonia E. Funes
1924 Himrod Street Ridgewood, NY 11385
Yvonne M. Gabbidon
29 Tehama St., Apt. 1R Brooklyn, NY 11218
Yonette P. George 157-11 110th Ave. Jamaica, NY 11433
Kendra George 3235 Kingsland Ave., Apt. 3 Bronx, NY 10469
Esther D. Gonzalez
100 E. 182nd St., Apt. 3E Bronx, NY 10453
Alex J. Gonzalez 855 Berkley St., Apt. A New Milford, NJ 07646
Steven Raphael Guzman
132 Bruckner Avenue Staten Island, NY 10303
Keryl V. Henry 455 Schenectady Ave., Apt. 5R Brooklyn, NY 11203
Lafleur A. Hepburn 263 Dorset Street Brooklyn, NY 11236
Aracelys Hernandez 1306 Loring Avenue, #8G Brooklyn, NY 11208
Shondell C. Hopkinson
3494 Seymour Avenue, Apt. 2B, Bronx, NY 10469
Lodz Jean-Baptiste 651 East 108th Street, #3C Brooklyn, NY 11236
Ona Jennings 3201 Grand Concourse, #6F Bronx, NY 10466
Eleanor E. JimenezJames 3104 Newkirk Ave., Apt. 5E Brooklyn, NY 11210
Paul R. Johnson 147-11 230th Place Rosedale, NY 11413
Jacqueline J. Johnson 16510 115th Ave., Apt. 2 Jamaica, NY 11434
Lillian Joseph 400 Suydam St., Apt. 2R Brooklyn, NY 11237
Emeline Joseph 14961 255th Street Rosedale, NY 11422
Habiba A. Kamagate 165 East 58th Street #2A Brooklyn, NY 11203
Barry Kenion 1408 Brooklyn Ave. #5F Brooklyn, NY 11210
Rekha C. Kisso 23717 93rd Avenue Bellerose, NY 11426
Antonio Lajara 3 Gray Street Staten Island, NY 10304
Marie C. Lantimo 191 East 17th Street, Apt. 2C Brooklyn, NY 11226
Sharon R. Patricia Lawrence 1303 E. 223rd Street Bronx, NY 10466
Owen L. Lewis 5 Roe Street Staten Island, NY 10310
Florence M. Logan 9 Offaly Street Amityville, NY 11701
Atanagilda N. Lorenzo
10 Catherine Slip, Apt. 6I New York, NY 10038
Dianne L. Lum 114-51 170th Street Jamaica, NY 11434
David Mahon
307 Eastern Parkway Brooklyn, NY 11238
Camille Maria Maldonado 711 E. 11th St. Apt. 10G New York, NY 10009
Sandra J. Manuel 2104 Carrington Road Lynchburg, VA 24501
Evelin Marmolejos
1850 Lafayette Ave., Apt. 1G Bronx, NY 10473
Lucrecia M. Mateo
450 Kent Ave., Apt. 8H Brooklyn, NY 11249
Christina Matthews 749 Kimball Avenue Yonkers, NY 10704
Amoy R. Mcdonald 4138 Bruner Avenue Bronx, NY 10466
Dwayne M. Mcorkle 1420 Freeport Loop, Apt. 5C Brooklyn, NY 11239
Akossiwa A. Missoh 1739 Zerega Ave., Apt. 3F Bronx, NY 10462
Patricia Marie Mitchell P.O. Box 465
Shelter Island, NY 11964
Nicole Moise 118-03 201 Place St. Albans, NY 11412
Ruth V. Moncrieffe 717 E. 82nd Street Brooklyn, NY 11236
Eliana Altagracia Morel
37 Dunbar Street, Apt. 1 Yonkers, NY 10710
Claudette Carvel Morgan
628 East 96th Street, Apt. 2 Brooklyn, NY 11236
Erica Morris
510 Chauncey St., Apt. 1A Brooklyn, NY 11233
Mahmoud A. Nada 42-34 212th Street #1G Bayside, NY 11361
Lorna M. Nelson-Case 69-41 Hessler Avenue, PH Arverne, NY 11692
Victoria E. NewmanMoore 53 St. Johns Place New Rochelle, NY 10801
Tenessa Latoya Newton 120-30 196 Street St. Albans, NY 11412
Osasu Tony Odiase 677 S. 18th Street, FL 2 Newark, NJ 7103
Ajiroghene D. Ominiabohs 487 E. 92nd Street Brooklyn, NY 11212
Dulcine G. Paul 774 S 16th Street Newark, NJ 07103
Alicia J. Paul 162-15 Highland Avenue Apt. 5K Jamaica, NY 1143
Lolimar Pena 70 Post Ave., Apt. #2C New York, NY 10034
Zaida Pimentel 2790 Grand Concourse Apt. 4DN Bronx, NY 10458
Gail L. Pressley
100 Erdman Pl., Apt. 8A Bronx, NY 10475
Ruth P. Rajgopaul 3090 Voorhies Ave., Apt. 3L Brooklyn, NY 11235
Alma Ramirez 2819 Schley Ave., Apt. 4C Bronx, NY 10465
Marta C. Ramos 816 17th St., FL 2 Union City, NJ 07087
Joanna Ramos 2800 Creston Ave., Apt. 4A Bronx, NY 10468
Marcia E. Reid 15029 72nd Rd., Apt. 4L Flushing, NY 11367
Ghislaine Remarais 7701 Lindbergh Blvd. Apt. 704 Philadelphia, PA 19153
Ingrid Rene-Janvier 789 East 35th Street Brooklyn, NY 11210
Noah Roberts 141 Park Hill Ave., Apt. 3W Staten Island, NY 10304
Gilda A. Rodriguez 74 Post Ave., Apt. 3A New York, NY 10034
Audrey Ross 2123 Mermaid Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11224
Afolake Salau 78 Beach Street Staten Island, NY 10304
Iverine L. Setal 32 Tyler Hill Road Naugatuck, CT 06770
Rita U. Tetteh 502 E. 184th St., FL 2 Bronx, NY 10458
Catherine Anetha Thomas 130 Hontork St., PH Brooklyn, NY 11216
Melissa Ann Thomas 100 Asch Loop, Apt. #19E Bronx, NY 10475
Alice Tobin 1528 Overing Street, Bsmt. Bronx, NY 10461
Adjiratou Toure 2255 Newbold Ave., Apt. 2R Bronx, NY 10462
Barbara A. Turner 2467 Frdk. Dgls. Bl., Apt. 5C New York, NY 10027
Mayra Al Uceta 61 Intervale Road Teaneck, NJ 07666
Andres J. Urena 2401 Davidson Ave., Apt. 2J Bronx, NY 10468
Francis C. B. Valdez
73-08 182nd Steet Fresh Meadows, NY 11366
Jomar Vargas 373 Sleight Avenue Staten Island, NY 10307
Albina Varibrus 8301 Bay Pkwy., Apt. 407 Brooklyn, NY 11214
Jesiel Vasquez 2511 Frisby Ave Apt. 2a Bronx, NY 10461
Ligia A. Villacis 177 Willis Ave., Apt. 9B Bronx, NY 10454
Helen A. Westmoreland 592 Prospect Pl. 2D Brooklyn, NY 11238
Sean M. Whyte 24 Winding Ridge Lane Middletown, NY 10940
Jenel L. Williams 797 Barbey Street Brooklyn, NY 11207
Lorraine Sandy Wynter 2051 Saint Raymond Ave., Apt. 4G Bronx, NY 10462
BE A VOICE FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE!
As 1199 members, we know that the attacks by the Federal government on immigrant communities— our neighbors, friends, co-workers, and loved ones—impact all of us, our freedoms, and the future of healthcare. Those in power are trying to pit working people against each other and distract from the real threats facing our livelihoods: vast economic inequality and billionaire greed.
We can’t and won’t be silent. Scan here if you’re interested in building your public speaking skills and raising your voice for immigrant justice!
INVISIBLE NO MORE
The Union’s 40-year battle to win fair wages and conditions for members who provide a lifeline to some of the most vulnerable in society.
In the early 1980s, home care workers were a largely unseen workforce, earning less than $3 an hour. Some worked 24 hours, but were paid for 13 hours. They had negligible health benefits, received little respect, and had few rights. These workers, laboring away in individual clients’ homes in New York City, were mainly
women, and usually the chief household breadwinners. Many were recent immigrants from Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean.
Fresh off the insurgent “Save our Union” campaign in 1986, when Dennis Rivera was elected 1199 President, the newly elected officers took a page from an organizing campaign thirty years
earlier, which had transformed the lives of poor voluntary hospital workers and established 1199 as a leading social justice union. In 1987, the leadership framed a highly publicized Justice for Home Care campaign as a moral crusade for workers who provide care to our seniors, the ill, and people with disabilities. 1199’s Education De -
Home care rally in June 1991
John Lindsay, NYC Mayor from 1966-1973, speaks at 1199 event.
partment and Delegate Trainings were strengthened to support the home care workers who knew little about the Union.
The campaign was launched with 1199’s EVP Aida Garcia and VP Rona Shapiro at the helm. Among the supporters were Rev. James Forbes of New York’s influential Riverside Church and Rev. Jesse Jackson, both leaders in the faithbased community. No religious leader played a more significant role than Cardinal John O’Connor, Roman Catholic archbishop of New York. Cardinal O’Connor lent his voice to an historic May 28, 1987 press conference for the workers on the steps of Manhattan’s renowned St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
In January 1988, “The Care-Givers” advertising campaign ran in the New York Times, telling the workers’ stories. Overwhelming public support followed. A few months later, in May, the home care members celebrated a dramatic contract victory with a 51 percent wage increase. In March of the following year, the Home Care Benefit Fund was established, providing the first health insurance for home care workers in the nation at that time.
The 1199 Home Care Division continued to grow in numbers and strength. On April 11, 1991, some 10,000 home care members marched in lower Manhattan during a one-day strike for a contract. The members struck again for two days in June. And in January, members ratified an agreement that brought them a first-time pension and training benefits.
A major turning point came in 1998 when 1199 merged with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), spurring increased organizing and further division consolidation. Then, the Union merged with Local 32BJ-144, and homecare membership doubled to over 40,000.
With wages low and home care workers still struggling, home care members went on strike again on June 7, 2005. This time, they won a $10-per-hour wage, improved health coverage, sick leave, and vacation time.
Organizing efforts continued. In 2007, when Senator Barack Obama was running for the Democratic nomination for President, he helped publicize the plight of
home care workers by spending a day with Pauline Beck, an SEIU home care worker in Northern California’s Alameda County. As President, he later championed legislation that extended overtime pay and a guaranteed minimum wage to home care workers.
Also in 2007, in one of the largest union elections in Massachusetts history, 22,000 Personal Care Attendants (PCAs), the term for the state’s home care workers, voted overwhelmingly to merge with 1199SEIU.
“It was a no-brainer for me,” said PCA Hertenz Spence of Lynn, MA, at the time. “Now we have hope to stay on the job and keep everybody happy and healthy, including myself.”
The late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, a long-time leader in the fight for universal quality health care, congratulated the workers on what he termed a significant achievement. “Home care workers perform some of the most difficult and most important jobs in our society. Yet all too often, their indispensable work is undervalued.”
1199 home care members know they are employed by publicly funded programs. They are the Union’s most politically active members. Along with other SEIU members nationwide, they were on the frontlines fighting for a $15 minimum wage. In 2016, New York was one of the first states to win that fight.
In 2015, 1199 homecare members in NYC negotiated a ground-breaking contract provision that required an efficient resolution
“Home care workers perform some of the most difficult and most important jobs in our society. Yet all too often, their indispensable work is undervalued.”
–the late Massachusetts Senator, Ted Kennedy
of wage and hour claims and included all the protections and remedies available in federal courts. That provision led to a 2022 arbitration decision, which awarded $30 million to more than 100,000 former and current Union home care workers employed at 42 agencies.
1199’s home care members in Massachusetts have also scored significant gains. Wages for the state’s PCAs increased by 50 cents an hour this July, meaning that all PCAs earn at least $20 an hour. In January 2026, some PCAs working with consumers who need complex care will earn $25.65 an hour.
Although gains for 1199 home care members have been uneven, much progress has been made over the past forty years. For instance, New York home care workers are now considered “healthcare” workers and no longer “minimum wage’ workers. They are paid $2.00 plus more than New York’s minimum wage.
While the road ahead is long, with thousands more home care workers joining the Union every year, the power of the more than 125,000 home care workers throughout New York and Massachusetts can only continue to grow.
Rona Shapiro, 1199SEIU Home Care Division EVP (center), marching in the early days.
“From the moment you clock in until the moment you clock out, it doesn’t stop in the ER,” says Stephanie Blasko, an RN Delegate at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, NY.
