CONTENTS
Telling our stories is crucial to advancing worker-friendly policies.
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12 4 Beating Breast Cancer Members raise awareness about the importance of early detection in saving lives
22 cover : First row (L-R): Members march on Albany; Home care members lobby for minimum wage increases; March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington D.C. Second row (L-R): 1199 RNs from Buffalo attending the SEIU Nurse Alliance Conference; Mercy Hospital contract victory; Fenway Health members, Quincy, MA Third row clockwise from left: Harry Belafonte, the pioneering artist, social justice campaigner and healthcare champion who passed away in April; League members celebrate raises; Group and Greater Nursing join in; Hamilton Park Nursing Home, LI, contract ratification.
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November - December 2023
1199 Magazine November-December 2023 Vol. 41 No.6 ISSN 2474-7009 Published by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East 498 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10018 (212) 582-1890 www.1199seiu.org
Editorial: Being Heard
5 The President’s Column Fighting for Healthcare Fairness 6 Around the Regions Capital region strike vote leads to tentative agreement; Florida RN Lifts Patients Spirits with Crochet; Celebrating Panamanian Day; Home Health Aides in Buffalo Win Historic Agreement; Long Island Community Blood Drive.
9 The Work We Do: NYPQ Our newest radiologic members at NewYork Presbyterian Queens recently signed their first contract, bringing them the gold standard wages and benefits associated with institutions belonging to the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes. 12 The Home Front Members rehabilitate Ukrainian soldiers in Staten Island. 14 Putting the Pieces Together After a lifetime of public service in her job, a Hudson Valley member recognizes the value of political action.
16 Solving the Skills Shortage The Union seeks to improve members’ skills to fill much needed healthcare roles. 17 A Look Back at 2023 1199 members celebrated dramatic contract and political victories in 2023. Here is a small sampling of what we have won. 22 Moving Mountains Together Diverse voices are crucial to Union democracy.
As we chalk up the wins for 2023, in politics and contract negotiations, it is safe to say that the labor movement has had a bumper year. All over the country, workers stood up to powerful bosses from writers and actors in Hollywood to the automotive industry to Starbucks baristas. In our Union, members in New York saw 18 percent wage increases over the next three years in newly negotiated contracts that will directly impact roughly a quarter of 1199’s membership. Healthcare workers employed in institutions belonging to the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes won these increases for roughly 90,000 workers when they reopened their contract agreement in March. This win gave another 33,000 nursing home members the boost they needed to reopen their own contracts with the Greater New York and “Group of 65” homes and lock down the same 18 percent raises in June. But it is crucial to remember that these victories would not have been possible without the political groundwork that our members engaged in throughout the year. To ensure that our elected representatives continue to allocate enough money to underpin the running costs in the wide variety of settings in which we work, we need to constantly remind them of the value of what we do. As healthcare workers, the best way to get through to the politicians who determine funding priorities, is by visiting them face-to-face and telling them our own stories of how we care for the most vulnerable members of society every single day. That’s why thousands of 1199ers boarded busses to the New York State capital in March to make our collective voices heard and share our first-hand accounts, when the state’s funding priorities were being hotly contested during the state budget negotiations. <See A Look Back at 2023, p. 17> As we begin to gear up for the for the Presidential and Congressional elections in 2024, we need hone these skills of communicating our workerfriendly message in a way that moves not only elected officials, but the voters who put them in office. In conversations with our fellow members who may be undecided, as well as when we canvass registered voters on their doorsteps, we
president
George Gresham secretary treasurer
Milly Silva senior executive vice presidents
Yvonne Armstrong Maria Castaneda Veronica TurnerBiggs executive vice presidents
Jacqueline Alleyne Lisa Brown Roger Cummerbatch Tim Foley Todd Hobler Patricia Marthone Brian Morse Joyce Neil Roxey Nelson Rona Shapiro Gregory Speller Daine Williams Nadine Williamson editor
Sarah Wilson art direction and design
Maiarelli Studio director of photography
Kim Wessels contributors
April Ezzell Jenna Jackson JJ Johnson Desiree Taylor
Annabelle Heckler
As healthcare workers, the best way to get through to politicians is by telling them our own stories of how we care for the most vulnerable members of society every single day.
need to explain why worker-friendly policies end up benefitting us all. For instance, voters may hold a variety of views about whether and in what circumstances they would consider terminating a pregnancy. But since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, voters in six states have approved legislation to once again ensure the right to safe abortion. In Florida, 1199ers have joined this fight and are lending their voices to a campaign to put abortion rights on the 2024 general election ballot. <See Reproductive Rights, p. 14> We have joined this campaign because it is low-income women who have limited access to healthcare in the first place, who are also unlikely to have the means to travel to another state. 1199 will always lend our weight to a campaign that ensures all people, regardless of income, have access to the healthcare they need and deserve.
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 E. 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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