Our Life & Times | March / April 2014

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MARYLAND ACA ENROLLMENT EVENT

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MAKING HER WAY UP THE LADDER OF SUCCESS

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MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN ON CHILD POVERTY

A JOURNAL OF 1199SEIU March/April 2014

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL

Members 5,000 strong from across downstate NY rallied in Albany March 26 to protect New York State budget funds for caregivers’ wages and benefits.

See page 12.

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

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3 PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Editorial

Our Life and Times March/April 2014

“OUR TASK IS TO

4 REPLACE DESPAIR LEAGUE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

We all need to get active to protect our benefits.

WITH OPPORTUNITY.”

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AROUND THE REGIONS

Leadership training at University of Miami; Mass. & NYC Black History Month celebrations; Baltimore ACA enrollment event & more.

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STATE BUDGET FIGHTS

Members are dedicated to preservation of funding for care.

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MAKING HER WAY UP THE LADDER OF SUCCESS

A member’s journey from homecare worker to registered nurse.

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HER FATHER’S DAUGHTER

Eve Shoenthal carries on her father’s legacy of trade unionism.

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5,000 RALLY IN ALBANY

NYS budget commits $300m for caregiver benefits and wage parity.

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FAREWELL PETE SEEGER

His music spoke to the dreams of working people.

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THE LAST WORD: POVERTY

Children’s Defense Fund founder and president Marian Wright Edelman on child poverty.

Our Life And Times, March/April 2014 Vol 32, No 2 Published by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East 310 West 43rd St. New York, NY 10036 Telephone (212) 582-1890 www.1199seiu.org president

George Gresham secretary treasurer

Maria Castaneda executive vice presidents

Norma Amsterdam Yvonne Armstrong Lisa Brown-Beloch Angela Doyle George Kennedy Steve Kramer Joyce Neil John Reid Bruce Richard Mike Rifkin Monica Russo Rona Shapiro Neva Shillingford Milly Silva Veronica Turner Laurie Vallone Estela Vazquez acting editor

Patricia Kenney

This issue of Our Life And Times arrives around the same time we mark the 50th anniversary of Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson’s historic War on Poverty. Johnson’s visionary initiative included many of the programs that at the time were revolutionary­—food stamps, Medicaid, Medicare and Head Start. Today those things are the cornerstones of mutual aid in our society.

The anniversary falls during another unfortunate error on the American timeline. Vast inequality between the rich and poor dog-ear this page in our history. Rarely have we seen the wealthy work so hard to squelch working people’s aspirations. We’re in a time when politicians—in direct opposition to the law—campaign openly against unions, as many recently did during a United Auto Workers organizing campaign in Tennessee. Giant corporations brazenly cut low-paid workers’ benefits to pad their bottom lines. And in the last 50 years, more of our teens and children have died from gun violence than U.S. soldiers in the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

It’s almost now impossible to imagine a kind of monumental movement that seeks to lift people up— especially one that’s government driven, what with the right wing biting every extended helping hand and the likes of Rep. Paul Ryan talking about a “culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working…”

But the fact of the matter is we and our allies are

carrying on the work that LBJ started 50 years ago. Not easily. Our message must prevail over the dog whistle of people like Ryan, who would have the nation believe that people don’t want to work, even though the reality is good jobs have disappeared and wages have fallen 60% in the last 40 years—thanks in no small part to economic policies he supports.

This issue reminds us that there are members in all of our regions carrying on that work, making sure families aren’t neglected, sick or hungry. 1199ers are organizing.

Members are sitting steadfastly at the bargaining table, ensuring quality healthcare, decent wages and jobs for their brothers and sisters. Members are fighting for struggling institutions. They’re reminding people like the billionaire Koch brothers that they’re being watched and that our communities aren’t for sale. Our members are out en masse making sure politicians keep their promises and that education, healthcare and the basic necessities of life are funded. And, of course, they’re caring for our sick, frail, and elderly.

In introducing the War On Poverty, Pres. Johnson reminded the nation that “Many Americans live on the outskirts of hope,” and charged us with the great responsibility: “To replace despair with opportunity.”

That, proudly, is what 1199SEIU members do every single day.

director of photography

Jim Tynan photographer

Belinda Gallegos art direction & design

Maiarelli Studio

cover photograph

Jim Tynan contributors

Mindy Berman Aaron Blye Bryn Lloyd-Bollard Esther Iverem Peter J. Drumsta JJ Johnson Our Life And Times is published six times a year- January/ February, March/ April, May/June, July/ August, September/ October, November/ December – for $15.00 per year by 1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East, 310 W.43 St, New York, NY 10036.

Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: send address changes to Our Life And Times, 310 W.43 St., New York, NY 10036.

LUBA LUKOVA

@1199seiu www.facebook.com/SEIU www.1199seiu.org March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

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THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Letters

George Gresham

Forward Together, Not One Step Back.

SUPPORT SINGLE PAYER HEALTH COVERAGE e’re a Union of healthcare workers and our biggest issue in every contract negotiation is how to keep our own healthcare benefits.

As we prepare for negotiations with the League of Voluntary Hospitals in the NYC area, management has made it clear that cutting our benefits will be their priority.

How can things be different? If we had a single-payer healthcare plan in NY state!

Single-payer means everyone— employed and unemployed—is covered for medical benefits with no fees, no co-pays, no deductibles. Healthcare benefits would be off the bargaining table and we could use that money for raises and better working conditions. And with everyone getting coverage, more jobs would be created for healthcare workers.

Of course this won’t be easy.

Look at the uproar the right wing started over the Affordable Care Act, which is still centered on the insurance companies. But we believe that state by state we can do it. Vermont did it. And we in New York State can do it too.

NYS Assemblyman Dick Gottfried has raised a singlepayer healthcare bill. The AFL-CIO, the NYC Central Labor Council, and the Working Families Party all support a single-payer plan. We urge our Union and its members to support Assembly Bill A5389 and Senate Bill S2078. For more info on universal single-payer healthcare log onto to www.hcn-nyc.org.

W

NINA HOWES Beth Israel Medical Center, EDUARDO SANTIAGO Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, SUBHA SUNDARAM Montefiore Medical Center Albert Einstein Division, SHIRLEY WALLACE Retiree, New York City POVERTY IS NOT AN ACCIDENT recently read an editorial in the Rochester City Newspaper by 1199SEIU VP Bruce Popper. Everyone should get

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March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

a hold of it. There are a lot of valuable lessons in it for all of us. In his column, VP Popper talked about poverty in Rochester, NY—why the problem is growing and how it can be changed. The things that are so badly affecting Rochester go on all over the country: intense poverty, racism, drug addiction. I’ve seen families in our emergency room that couldn’t afford Tylenol for their sick babies.

How can someone go on a job interview or concentrate in school if they are hungry or don’t have a decent place to live? Our society’s values are backward.

One of our best weapons against this is organizing.

When someone has a good union job they can make a living, support their families and proudly build their neighborhoods. VP Popper talked about how employers often use our own tax dollars to wage campaigns against organizing drives. They get away with it because they stir up anti-union sentiment throughout the country. We have to keep talking about this.

VP Popper’s column made me proud to be a member of 1199SEIU. We nurses wouldn’t have what we have if we weren’t in the Union. Everyone deserves a good job that supports his or her family. There’s no reason that our rich country should have so many people living in poverty.

MARY O’NEILL Auburn Community Hospital Auburn, NY Editor’s Note: 1199SEIU VP Bruce Popper’s column “The Real Solution to Rochester’s Poverty” is available at www.rochestercitynewspaper.com.

Let’s Hear From You Our Life And Times welcomes your letters. Please email them to PatriciaK@1199.org or mail them to Patricia Kenney, 1199SEIU OLAT, 330 West 42nd St., 7th floor, New York, NY 10036. Please include your telephone number and place of work. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and the War on Poverty reminds us of how far we’ve come—and how far we still have to go.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Dr. King was right, as usual. But we might add that the reason the arc is so long is because the forces of injustice continue to resist its direction.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of two historic victories in our nation’s arc toward economic and social justice: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. They are the signal achievements of the civil rights and labor movements and today both are under assault from right wing political and financial institutions.

President Johnson’s legacy is rightfully shamed because of the Vietnam War. The conflict brought three million deaths to that people, killed over 50,000 American troops, and left in its wake an environmental and psychological disaster in both countries. It’s made more pitiful by the fact that, domestically, Johnson achieved more progressive legislation than any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Civil Rights Act—which was followed a year later by the Voting Rights Act—dismantled the legal structures of American apartheid. Together the pieces of historic legislation outlawed discrimination based on color, race, religion, sex or national origin; outlawed segregation in schools, workplaces and public accommodations; ended unequal application of voter registration requirements; and provided tools for enforcement.

Johnson deserves credit for doing what other presidents would not or could not do, but the legislation became law primarily because untold thousands of mainly African-American children, students, sharecroppers, and working folk braved lynch mobs, armed Klan and police forces, church bombings, beatings, prison and unspeakable horrors to demand the “freedom and justice for all” that white politicians proclaimed was what America stood for.

When Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, he understood well the political price of the action. “We [meaning the Democratic Party] have lost the South for a generation,” he said. This turned out to be an underestimation as most white southern Democrats fled to the Republican Party, where they remain.

Johnson’s Great Society (of which the War on Poverty was part) was built upon the achievements of Roosevelt’s New Deal, which gave us Social Security, unemployment compensation, the minimum wage, the National Labor Relations Act, and much more. Among Great Society programs were Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Head Start, VISTA volunteers, Legal Services, the Job Corps, the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, cigarette labeling, and motor vehicle safety.

Reading over what was achieved by the Civil Rights Act and Great Society programs, it’s hard to believe they are 50 years old this year. Every one of them is under assault five decades later by a corporate-funded right wing attack machine. The Koch brothers and the Tea Party and their ideological brethren try to turn the country back to the 1950s and beyond. “The past isn’t dead; it’s not even past,” wrote Mississippi author William Faulkner, who might have had in mind the allegiance some Southern whites still have for the Confederate flag and all it symbolizes.

Fortunately, they are not the only soldiers on the political field of battle. We 1199ers and our allies know what it took Dr. King and Leon Davis and Fannie Lou Hamer and their partners to achieve the Civil Rights Act and War on Poverty. We honor them by fighting to defend what they won and to win new victories of our own. We don’t intend to give back anything they won in the political arena any more than we’ll give back what our veteran union sisters and brothers won in collective bargaining.

As they say in North Carolina’s powerful Moral Monday movement, “Forward together. Not one step back!”

Our Union

“We Won’t Let Them

Divide Us

”

Talks with the League of Voluntary Hospitals are under way.

The first three sessions of contract talks between 1199SEIU and the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes were held in Manhattan March 5, 6 and 24.

The League’s proposals constitute a severe threat to members’ benefits; representatives expressed dire concern about the rising costs of healthcare and how much they contribute to members’ coverage under the 1199SEIU National Benefit Fund. Management maintains that for-profit employers like Rite Aid and some nursing homes should pay more toward members’ healthcare coverage, but their ultimate goal is a drastic reduction in their contributions to the 1199SEIU Benefit Fund.

The Union’s 400-member negotiating committee, which represents every facility in the League, was adamant in their wholesale rejection of management’s position, which would result in co-payments and premiums for members.

“We are the caregivers for the most vulnerable in this society and that’s the most important thing to us,” says negotiating

committee member Noel Auld, a CNA at Jewish Home Lifecare in Manhattan for 24 years. “But we believe fair wages and fair benefits are also a priority. We need to protect our futures, too.”

Committee member Giovanni Seminerio, an EMT at Staten Island University Hospital and father of seven, says he’s proud of his work as a caregiver, but needs to be able to take care of his family.

“Management knows we don’t make big salaries and our health benefits are important,” says Seminerio. “We also work for all the other benefits we negotiate like the Training Fund and the Child Care Fund. I know how important those things are because I see people every day on the ambulance without healthcare, and they’re afraid to get sick or go to the hospital.”

Bosses also attempted to sew discord among workers, attacking the structure of the Fund, holding that all worker contributions aren’t equal. In reality all employers don’t contribute equally; they subsidize new, outpatient clinics with sub-stan-

dard, non-union jobs and are seeking even more subsidies with reductions in 1199SEIU members’ benefits.

Workers aren’t buying management’s line, says negotiating committee member Liz Lytton, an oncological social worker at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan.

“They try to anger one group to keep us divided,” says Lytton. “I tell members to look at their paychecks.

Look at where it says ‘employer contribution’. Do you think we would ever see that kind of a raise to pay for our benefits without the Union?

This is why we’re all together. We won’t let them divide us.”

At press time more negotiating sessions were scheduled for April. Members are encouraged to get active in the League fight and become Contract Captains in their institutions. To learn more, talk to your organizer or delegate.

Text 1199unity to 30644 to receive action updates. (Standard rates may apply.) You can also log on to www.1199seiu.org, like us on Facebook /1199SEIU or follow us on Twitter@1199SEIU.

“ We are the caregivers for the most vulnerable in this society and that’s the most important thing to us... But we believe fair wages and fair benefits are also a priority.”

—N oel Auld, negotiating

committee member, Jewish Home Lifecare.

WHERE WE STAND Our employers are threatening our jobs, our benefits and our futures.

Providing quality patient care and health protections for our members so they can care for their families are among the bedrock principles of 1199SEIU. Here’s why we won’t accept cuts of any kind to our benefits:

• Unhealthy Workers Can’t Provide

Healthcare: Medical benefits are essential for 1199ers, because we’re exposed to illnesses while on the job.

And this coverage helps employers maintain stable, effective workforces.

• The Benefit Fund Is Cost-Efficient: Coverage for a family of four costs nearly 37 percent less than the average private insurance in New York City. The Fund’s administrative costs are less than half those imposed by private insurers. And the Fund has saved 50 percent more than required in the last five years.

• Partnership: The League benefits from 1199SEIU members’ tireless efforts protecting healthcare funding at the state and federal levels.

• The League Can Afford It: The top five hospital systems raked in staggering revenues of more than $20 billion in 2012.

• It’s Our Turn: Wages have not kept pace with inflation for the past decade.

Union Pres. George Gresham is cheered on by negotiating committee at March 24 League talks.

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

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InTheRegions

NEW YORK

NYC Members Celebrate Black History The mother of Trayvon Martin and two 1199SEIU members who also have lost sons to gun violence were among those honored during a Black History Month celebration at the Union’s Manhattan headquarters.

The night of celebration and remembrance was held Feb. 21 in the Union’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium and presented by 1199SEIU, the NY Chapter of SEIU’s African American Caucus (AFRAM) and 1199SEIU’s National Benefit Fund Staff Association.

Guests of honor included Sybrina Fulton, Constance Malcolm and Valerie Bell. Fulton is the mother of Trayvon Martin; Malcolm is the mother of Ramarley Graham, who was shot to death inside his Bronx home by NYPD officer Richard Haste. Valerie Bell is the mother of Sean Bell, who in 2006 was shot to death in Queens, NY by undercover officers in a 50-shot barrage the night before his wedding. Malcolm and Bell are members of 1199SEIU. “We just want to show you our love, care and respect,” said Valarie Bell in expressing her gratitude to all of those in attendance. Bell vowed to continue her work as a champion for the eradication of gun violence and justice for families af-

fected by it.

Fulton, who managed to make it to the celebration from Florida after numerous weather-related flight delays, praised all of her family’s supporters and New Yorkers in particular, who she said were the first to show her family support after Trayvon was killed.

“We were here for the Rev. Al Sharpton show and we didn’t even know what a ‘Million Hoodies’ was,” she said, referring to the marches for justice at which tens of thousands of participants wore hoodies like the one Trayvon was wearing the night he was killed.

“We didn’t know how many people were in support of me and my family. Thank you, New York.”

Also on the evening’s program was Ras Baraka, son of the renowned poet Amiri Baraka. Ras Baraka was recently endorsed by 1199SEIU in his bid for mayor of Newark, NJ. He presented proclamations to the guests of honor and to members of the Central Park Five — Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson and Raymond Santana.

Pres. George Gresham was humbled at the magnitude of the strength and determination of the honorees and thanked them for their contributions to the movement for justice.

“We will be there with you

1199SEIU Pres. George Gresham, third from left, gave out plaques to honorees at Feb. 21 Black History Month celebration in NYC. until all of our children are able to walk the streets and not feel that they are thugs or criminals,” said Gresham. “We will raise our voices.”

Roosevelt Hospital retiree Sylvia Williams was moved by the the evening and said such events are a profound reminder of history and the continuing struggle.

“I’m the mother of three Black young men,” said Williams. “I’m proud of them. They have taken the right path, but we have to help others and make sure they are the leaders of tomorrow. We have kids that need help and we have to continue to fight for that. I may be retired, but I am dedicated to fighting for the rights of others.”

NEW YORK

Members Win Fight for St. Luke’s Cornwall ER! More than 500 1199SEIU members at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital (SLCH) in New York’s Hudson Valley breathed a collective sigh of relief March 12. That’s when they got the word that their emergency room on the Cornwall Campus had been saved. The hospital administration rescinded their misguided bid to shut down the emergency department during overnight hours, a proposal that would have reduced the emergency room’s hours of operation by half and put the community’s healthcare in jeopardy.

For almost a year, 1199SEIU members, elected officials, neighbors and friends campaigned to maintain a full-time emergency department on the Cornwall campus. The effort included public forums, rallies, meetings with local, state and federal legislators, delivering thousands of petitions to the state Department of Health and a 5

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

successful email letter writing campaign.

Cindy Lee, an ER tech in the Cornwall emergency department, said, “I’m so grateful to my coworkers, the elected officials, and our community. We all stood up, saw the big picture, and understood how critical 24-hour emergency care is. Emergencies won’t wait until the

morning. That’s why they’re called emergencies and that’s why public health law takes emergency care so seriously.”

Although emergency care at SLCH is safe for now, there are several applications from hospitals throughout New York, with the prospect of more in the future, to downgrade full-time emergency departments to part-time status.

With that in mind, 1199SEIU members are supporting passage of A.8724 and S. 6561, legislation that would ensure that any application to reduce emergency services will require a full certificate of need review and approval by the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC). The bill passed the NY State Assembly and is headed to the Senate. To let members of the Senate Health Committee know you support this important legislation, check out http://uhe.seiu.org/page/speakout/ save-emergency-services.

MASSACHUSETTS

MASS. AFRAM 5th Annual Black History Celebration The 1199SEIU Massachusetts AFRAM, the regional African American Caucus of SEIU, swung open the Union’s doors Feb. 22 in Boston for its annual Black History Month celebration.

The fifth annual observance attracted some 80 members, family and friends. They were treated to a pot-luck meal of regional dishes contributed by members from different regions of the U.S. and the African diaspora.

The Caribbean region was well represented with dishes from Jamaica, the Bahamas and Haiti “This annual event is an important opportunity for us to stress the connection of our Union to our communities,” says Brian Johnson, a Boston Medical Center anesthesia aide and the Mass.

AFRAM president.

The event included entertainment by the Four Star Dance Academy and inspirational speeches. Speakers paid tribute to the heroes and struggles of the past and stressed the connections between issues African Americas faced long ago with today’s obstacles.

“All our events are open to everyone,” Johnson stresses. “We tell people that ‘they can always find a place to sit and some food to eat.’ We are a social justice Union.”

AFRAM invited the major Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates to attend. Those who accepted mingled with the crowd but were not asked to speak.

They were Attorney General Martha Coakley, State Treasurer Steven Grossman and former national security adviser Juliette Kayyem. Candidates for Attorney General, former AG bureau chief Maura Healey and former state Sen. Warren Tolman, also attended.

InTheRegions

MARYLAND

Members Praised for Affordable Care Act Work U.S. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland praised 1199SEIU members for their extraordinary dedication to the cause of healthcare for all during a March 7 visit to the Union’s Baltimore offices. Cardin stopped by for an Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment event which was part of a final push to get Marylanders signed up for insurance coverage under the provisions of the new healthcare law.

“You are on the front lines giving direct care. Too many people are being left out and you see that every day,” said Cardin of the many 1199ers who have dedicated themselves not only to winning passage of the law, but also to signing people up for exchanges where they can buy insurance. “What President Obama has been able to achieve should have been done a long time ago.”

As of Feb. 22, more than 170,000 Marylanders had created accounts on the Maryland Health Connection website and 35, 636 enrolled in private health plans

through the exchange. 1199SEIU members have been helping to lead the outreach efforts in Baltimore.

The Senator was joined at the event by many 1199SEIU members, healthcare advocates and Maryland residents who shared their personal stories of finding better, more affordable healthcare coverage thanks to the ACA. Among them was 1199SEIU member and member political organizer Anthony Mielas, who had been without healthcare coverage since losing his job as a floor tech at Baltimore’s Rock Glen Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in January.

“It’s been really moving talking to people about healthcare and helping them sign up for the exchange,” said Mielas. “And I know what it’s like, so I can talk to them about it. You just feel better and more secure when you don’t have worry about insurance. I’ve already gone to the doctor, and now I’m getting ready to go to the dentist.”

Brookdale Medical Center members at Feb. 12 candlelight vigil for RN Evelyn Lynch

NEW YORK

Prayers For Injured Brookdale RN Hundreds of members gathered for a Feb. 12 candlelight vigil and prayer service at Brookdale Medical Center’s Sonya and Alvin Kahn Auditorium in support of Brookdale RN Evelyn Lynch, who was severely injured on January 31 when she was assaulted by a patient she was preparing for discharge.

The event was a mix of somber and hopeful emotion, where workers were joined with clergy, community leaders, elected officials and Brookdale management in the call for healing for Lynch and the Brookdale community and for safer workplaces for all caregivers.

The service included prayers, musical selections and the recognition of caregivers who played a vital role in Lynch’s treatment, including staffers from Brookdale’s ER and intensive care unit and those from Kings County Medical Center, where she had surgery.

OR surgical technologist Genelle Jones said the entire Brookdale family is working to heal the hospital and keeping thoughts of healing in their hearts for their sister.

“We’ve had the crisis unit, pastors from the community and counselors for our members here,” said Jones.

“Departments have taken time outs to see what members need. Delegates are going around finding out the needs of workers. Now we think it’s time to put legislation in place to help protect healthcare workers.”

Since the attack members and hospital representatives have been working together to develop new safety protocols and standards for healthcare workers.

Anthony Mielas, an 1199SEIU member political organizer, speaking at March 7 ACA event in Baltimore.

MASSACHUSETTS

Pact Approved at Beth Israel Deaconess in Plymouth Nearly 800 workers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Plymouth, MA, ratified a contract in February that increases wages and preserves key education and health insurance benefits. 1199ers at Plymouth voted overwhelmingly (86%) to approve the new agreement.

The contract is the first to be signed between a hospital operated

by BIDMC and 1199SEIU. BIDMC acquired the institution – formerly know as Jordan – on Jan. 1, 2014.

“This victory is a win-win for workers and patients alike,” said Pauline Sgarzi, a unit coordinator with 32 years’ experience at the hospital. “Healthcare workers

have been outspoken in calling for BIDMC to invest in quality care and jobs for our community. This contract helps secure those kinds of investments and will help make our hospital an even better place to work and receive care moving forward.”

“Given today’s environment, I believe we were able to get a fair and equitable contract,” says Rhonda Neary, a unit coordinator and 19year veteran at BIMDC. “Winning the contract required a hard fight, but we had enough unity to prevail.”

“We worked really hard to win this contract,” says Michelle Hill, a medical lab technician and delegate for the last three years. She noted that management’s first offer was

much lower than what members eventually won. “The members I’ve spoken to are happy with the contract,” she stresses.

“We are glad that management agreed to maintain its commitment to the education and training programs,” says Deb Jakowski, a surgical technologist with 30 years’ experience. “In the rapidly changing healthcare industry, education and training opportunities play a key role in helping hospital workers deliver the best possible care to patients.”

1199ers who are eligible for step increases will receive an average 4 percent increase annually. All members will receive increases of at least 3 percent over the next two years.

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

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MASSACHUSETTS

Caregivers Protest Poverty Wages Braving snow and icy temperatures, caregivers picketed Meadowview Nursing Home in North Reading, Mass.

Feb. 27 to demand fair wages and affordable health benefits. Several actions were held that day at Genesis Corp.-owned nursing homes in Massachusetts. Genesis operates some 36 facilities in the Bay State and is known for poverty wages. “Under $9 an hour is not enough

Photo: Rose Lincoln to pay rent and to feed my family,” said Meadowview laundry aide Grescenia Sanchez. Tensions reached a tipping point in February when a company representative suggested that workers who couldn’t afford the healthcare plan apply for government benefits. At press time, workers were keeping up the pressure for fair wages and affordable healthcare benefits.

Maryland Advances UMMC Worker Protection Law

MASSACHUSETTS

Both the Maryland State House of Delegates and Senate voted on March 11 in favor of new legislation that will provide equal labor protections to 5,000 workers at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) in Baltimore.

The proposed law, an updated version of the Equality for Maryland Caregivers Act backed by 1199SEIU last year, solves a dilemma for UMMC workers, who are not covered by either federal or state labor boards because the hospital is a quasi-public institution. In Maryland, private hospitals fall under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and public hospitals fall under the Maryland Labor Relations Act. The legislation attempts to solve this inequity by allowing the NLRB to have jurisdiction over any claims or petitions presented

by UMMC employees.

UMMC workers, who testified and met with state legislators last year, reported a variety of management actions that at any other institution would be labor violations. Because NLRB does not issue advisory opinions, there is no guarantee that the legislation will result in NLRB jurisdiction over UMMC, but 1199SEIU attorneys say the law “is narrowly crafted so that it is likely that there will be NLRB jurisdiction.” The legislation will now continue through the Maryland General Assembly’s procedural process before it is sent to the governor’s office for his signature.

SEIU members in Massachusetts have served notice that they will be a major factor when the state’s voters choose their next governor.

The five Democrats who are seeking the Bay State’s highest office faced questioning during a forum in Boston on Saturday, March 15. Some 700 Union members turned out to hear the candidates – and challenge them about local and national issues.

The forum, sponsored by the Massachusetts SEIU Council, was held at the 1199SEIU’s offices in the Dorchester section of the city, and was streamed live on the Internet by masslive.com.

The Democratic candidates are pushing to land their party’s nomination in the state’s primary election on Sept. 9.

They are attorney general Martha Coakley; former Medicare/Medicaid administrator Don Berwick; former national security adviser Juliette Kayem; state treasurer Steve Grossman; and Joseph Avellone, a surgeon and former selectman in Wellesley, MA. The three Republican and two independent candidates were also invited, but none accepted.

1199SEIU Exec. VP Veronica Turner introduced the Democrats and set the tone for the discussion. “We know just how important it is to elect officials who will lift workers up out of poverty,” she said.

While economic concerns such as income inequality and the minimum wage dominated the discussion, the can-

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Union Forum Hosts Candidates for Massachusetts Governor

IN 2013 TO AFFORD A

2 BEDROOM MARKET RATE APARTMENT ANYWHERE IN THE U.S., AND HAVE ENOUGH LEFT OVER FOR FOOD, UTILITIES AND OTHER BASIC NECESSITIES, A WORKER WOULD HAVE TO HOLD DOWN MORE THAN

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

didates were also questioned on a wide range of other issues, including health care, universal pre-kindergarten, criminal justice reform, and the protection of labor rights.

“I’m very concerned about immigration and our state’s economy. We also need more affordable housing,” said attendee Suzy Frederic, an LPN at Dedham’s Golden Living Center.

After the forum, each attending member graded the candidates on a “report card,” to help the executive committee decide who will get the Union’s endorsement. Turner said the State Council is expected to make that decision soon. SEIU has some 90,000 members in Massachusetts.

“These events are very important.

We need to know who is running and who is going to help people,” said PCA Tammy Hall, who questioned the candidates about their plans to help lower-wage workers. “I was really happy that I was chosen to ask a question because I want to hear from them and be sure who the strongest candidates are as we go forward. It will be interesting to see how everyone reacted.”

Turner noted the major role played by the Union in the election of current Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, as well as its U.S. senators—Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey—and in President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 victories there.

The general election is scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 4.

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FULL TIME

MINIMUM WAGE JOBS

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FLORIDA

Florida Members in Cutting Edge Leadership Program

NEW YORK

Remembering the Triangle Fire Scores of union members, activists, family members and community residents gathered in New York City’s Greenwich Village March 25 for a ceremony commemorating the 103rd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The fire killed 146 garment workers; bosses locked exits to keep workers from leaving the factory floor. The majority of the dead were young, immigrant women—many of whom leapt to their deaths to escape the flames. The fire bore a new movement for worker safety and spurred implementation of many of today’s basic workplace protections.

To learn more about the history of the tragic Triangle Fire, log on to www.rememberthetrianglefire.org.

On the average college campus you probably won’t find healthcare workers and M.B.A. students working together developing solutions for the daily challenges of hospitals, but if you visited the University of Miami recently you would have.

As participants in the 1199SEIU/UMH Transformational Leadership Program, 40 nurses and other healthcare workers and 20 UM business-school students have worked together for the last six months as part of an innovative leadership development program started by the Union and UM. The program’s mission was to develop workers’ and students’ leadership skills to make healthcare delivery at University of Miami Hospital (UMH) even better.

“I think one of the most important things about being in this program is that it really allows you to stand out as a leader,” said Nadege Guerrier, a registered nurse at UMH for 12 years. “When you as an employee are engaged in your department, you don’t have to wait for your director to say ‘this needs to be done.’

You see a problem, you see a change, and you step up to the plate. You realize that I can get with my co-workers to see what solutions we can come up with.”

The program included classroom sessions on organizational behavior, understanding and mapping a process, collecting and analyzing data and process improvement methodologies.

Students created flow charts, brainstormed ideas and developed detailed, professional PowerPoint presentations. Nine departmental teams, consisting of healthcare workers paired with an M.B.A student, developed group projects tasked with coming up with solving real challenges workers face in their departments.

NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK

On International Women’s Day, Working Women Speak Out for Justice On March 8, 2014, New Jersey 1199SEIU members hosted a celebration of International Women’s Day, a holiday first observed in 1908 and commemorating women’s struggles for equality and freedom. Labor unions, community groups, and elected leaders from across the state participated in the event, which featured speeches from women who are fighting to end exploitation in their workplaces and communities.

Paulette Johnson, an 1199SEIU member and CNA at Regency Heritage Nursing and Rehabilitation

Center, explained to the crowd the significance of the holiday in her home country of Jamaica. “Let us be reminded that there was a time in our history when women did not have the right to vote,” she said. “We did not have a right to education and employment opportunities. Yes, we have made significant strides in our fight for equality and justice, but we must be reminded that there is work to be done because inequities still exist.”

The urgency of Johnson’s words was underscored by Silvia Martinez, a domestic worker who spoke about

On Jan. 31, the groups presented the departmental projects they worked on to a room full of hospital administrators and frontline workers. Student projects improved organization, reduced waiting times and transfer times and decreased the processing time for service orders from different hospital departments.

“The hospital itself and all other organization are putting a lot of new initiatives in place to accommodate the changes that are happening now [in healthcare]. I think this program really is one of the programs you want as an organization to engage your staff because they’re the ones on the front line who are dealing with the patients on a daily basis. When they’re engaged then the results will come,” said Guerrier.

Chiquita Brunson, who works in UMH’s service response center, was proud of the work her team did to process service calls more quickly.

“It will impact my job directly because it will not only help with patient satisfaction, but it will also impact us to want to be here, to want to improve, to want to do more for your job and be happy to come to work. So I think it’s wonderful,” said Brunson.

The 1199ers who participated in the program received a Process Improvement in Healthcare Certificate from UM’s business school; nurses also received continuing education units for the program. Through the program 1199SEIU and UMH broke new ground in labor management relations and plan to collaborate on future leadership development programs.

“It was breathtaking to be someone chosen out of thousands of people to have this opportunity to be here to explore this experience,” added Brunson.

the tremendous hardships facing undocumented immigrants, including rampant wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and sexual harassment.

“We want to stop mistreatment of us as workers. Just because we are Latina women who are undocumented, doesn’t mean we deserve to be treated like this by our employers. We have kids just like they do. We eat, sleep, and breathe just like everyone else. So I don’t see a difference, except that they are the employer and I am a worker.”

On the same day hundreds of 1199 caregivers and New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) members came together in a march and rally on the Upper East Side to tell the Koch brothers that all New Yorkers need quality healthcare. They were joined by community activists and elected officials including Senator Adriano Espaillat, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, City Council member Ben Kallos and City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez.

The rally began at the site of the David H. Koch Center, a new healthcare facility that is part of the New York Presbyterian system, with a price tag of $2 billion. Participants then proceeded to the Chase Bank branch at the corner of York Ave. and

NYC members called out the Kochs on International Women’s Day

72nd St for presentations by 1199SEIU, NYSNA, NAACP, Health GAP, NY Communities for Change, NOW-NYC, and elected officials. Participants culminated the event outside of David Koch’s residence, the luxury apartment building 740 Park Avenue.

The Koch brothers spent an estimated $235 million over the last several years to fight against women’s reproductive rights in states across the country. Additionally, while there are six hospital beds per 1,000 Manhattan residents, there are only two hospital beds per thousand residents in Brooklyn.

“This International Women’s Day, we’ve focused on the Koch brothers and their multimillion-dollar campaign against women’s right to reproductive health,” said Jill Furillo, NYSNA Executive Director. “Closing the chapter on women’s inequality is key to ending the Tale of Two Cities, a story being told across the country. It’s a story for the history books.”

“If there isn’t going to be any justice, there isn’t going to be any peace,” said Minerva Solla, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU. “Today we are standing up to tell the Koch brothers that all New Yorkers deserve quality healthcare, not just the super-rich. The campaigns they fund are harmful to women and all working people.”

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

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Politics

States Face Budget Challenges in Every Region Members remain steadfast in their dedication to quality care.

Even though Florida has a projected budget surplus of $1.2 billion, Gov. Rick Scott’s 20142015 budget proposals again don’t include affordable health care

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March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

With New York State facing changes in the way long-term care Medicaid is financed and up against a March 31 midnight budget deadline, 1199SEIU members sent a powerful message to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators that all healthcare workers deserve good jobs, fair wages and decent benefits. More than 5,000 New York members rallied March 26 at the state’s capital in Albany to make certain that the 2014-15 New York State budget ensures managed care companies will fully fund the wage and benefit increases that were included in 2011 legislation. (See story on pages 12-13.)

New York also reached a tentative agreement with the federal government for an $8 billion waiver, which will help the state with budgetary and healthcare delivery challenges over five years. Waivers are used by state governments to try out new or assess existing ways to deliver and pay for Medicaid services. Exactly how the money will be allocated is not yet clear, but all agree it will be a boost for hospitals and communities where healthcare services are distressed and have been diminished. On the follow-up legislative agenda is a measure that makes sure employers pay standard compensation based on union contracts.

While the federal government has made significant cuts to education, including a $406 million cut to Head Start, the 1960s-era program for prekindergarten children, 1199SEIU members were successful in the effort to fund universal prekindergarten programs in New York State. In the state budget agreement, lawmakers agreed to spend more than $1.5 billion over five years, or about $340 million a year, on free full-day classes for 4-year-olds.

NYS Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester) with members at March 11 NH Lobby Day in Albany.

Universal pre-kindergarten was a cornerstone of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s mayoral campaign last year. And experts agree that early childhood education has enormous economic and social benefits, decreasing later inequality and providing more opportunities.

Nobel-winning economist James Heckman estimates a lifelong economic rate of return of 7-10 percent per year per early childhood education dollar invested.

Youquing Xiang, a research technician at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY, says her 4-year-old son Vincent, has significantly advanced socially and intellectually while attending pre-K at the Future of America Learning Center in the Bronx. Vincent’s enrollment is covered under the 1199SEIU Child Care Fund.

“I strongly believe that prekindergarten makes a big difference for children academically. It will help down the road,” says Youquing. “Every day it’s an extra two hours of travel for me, but I believe that this experience is totally worth it, so I made the decision to do it. I believe that every parent and child should have this opportunity.”

No matter who’s in our city halls, state houses or the White House, for decades the premiere mission of 1199SEIU has been to achieve and protect affordable, high quality healthcare for all. And

this year was no different. 1199ers continued to send loud-and-clear signals to their state houses up and down the east coast—often braving freezing temperatures and over snowdrifts—that reforming healthcare and education is not about cutting funds for hospitals, nursing homes and schools. It means providing quality health care and educational and job opportunities for all.

WITH 11 15 THE HIGHEST OF THE

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie unveiled his 2015 budget proposal at the end of February. The budget proposal doesn’t include additional Medicaid funding for nursing homes, even though the costs to provide nursing home care are rising every year. 1199SEIU members are fighting to increase Medicaid funding so facilities can hire sufficient staff and retain experienced caregivers. As part of this campaign, members have been testifying at state budget hearings, explaining to legislators the challenges that exist in providing frontline nursing care.

“For a CNA who is responsible for ten to fifteen residents in a single shift, it can be incredibly difficult to meet each of our resident’s needs,” testified Halina Kulesha, who works at Cinnaminson Center in Cinnaminson. “But in our line of work, there is no way for us to cut corners without jeopardizing care.

That’s why we need to make sure that our facilities have the resources they need to provide residents with excellent personal care and attention.”

expansion, once again denying life saving coverage to more than 750,000 Floridians. Last year, Scott’s Republican allies in the legislature turned down $51 billion in federal funding to expand health insurance access to working families.

According to a University of Florida study, this would have added 120,000 permanent jobs to the economy. 1199SEIU members are fighting back, declaring that now is the time for Florida to invest in the future and restore funding health care, education, precious natural resources, and infrastructure. The budget deadline is May 3.

STATES

POVERTY RATES ARE RIGHT TO WORK

(FOR LESS) STATES STATES

9 11WITH OF THE

Changes in the healthcare industry are emerging at a furious pace, requiring states to keep healthcare costs down while ensuring accessible, affordable health care. States are challenged with balancing their budgets while conforming to the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

In recent years, states have spent more than $200 billion annually on health care for those in poverty and the medically disadvantaged, according to the State Budget Crisis Task Force.

Medicaid, which was created to help those in need, has taken up a large share of state budgets in recent years, with expenses totaling approximately one quarter of total state expenditures. This has a dual effect on state budgets, especially during economic downturns: states face an increasing demand for Medicaid programs while revenues available to pay for those services decline.

The effects of the newly implemented ACA on state budgets remain to be seen. Governors have had varied responses to the Supreme Court decision that upheld the part of the law which increases the number of Medicaid enrollees.

THE LOWEST

POVERTY RATES

ARE UNION FRIENDLY

Our Members

“ It’s like a ladder— each rung is one small success, and you go higher.”

– Ruby Bryan, RN Beth Abraham Health Services Bronx, NY When Beth Abraham Health Services RN Ruby Bryan came to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1989 she planned to be a teacher. She had studied education at a university in her home country, but she quickly learned that her certificate wasn’t transferrable. In order to support her family where she was living in the Bronx, NY, she started working as a home health aide. She was making $3.75 an hour and raising three kids on her own.

“I used to have to work 12-hour shifts and an extra day. It was very tough,” she says. “I had to work three jobs. I used to cook for a lady downtown and do odds and ends. Sometimes I’d go home for a few hours just to be with the kids and then go back to work. Or sometimes I’d take them with me. The lady I worked for loved them.”

Bryan’s story is familiar: a single mother making ends meet by working multiple, lowpaying jobs. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, some 64 percent of women who work more than one job say they do it just to pay basic living expenses.

MORE THAN 1 IN 7 WOMEN

LIVE BELOW THE POVERTY LINE

MAKING HER WAY UP THE LADDER OF SUCCESS Former home health aide Ruby Bryan became an RN with help from 1199SEIU’s training programs.

In 1992 she started working as a CNA at Beth Abraham Health Services and became a member of 1199SEIU. “When I got that job I was making over $10 an hour and it seemed like so much,” says Bryan.

“So when I hear that there are people today who still make $7 an hour I get upset. How are people supposed to live on that kind of money? You can’t live on that.”

She made the decision in 2004 to move forward with her nursing education. She was no longer working three jobs and her kids were older.

With encouragement from her co-workers and Union representatives, she enrolled in a pre-LPN program that was a partnership of 1199SEIU’s Training and Upgrading Fund (TUF) and Hostos Community College in the Bronx. Classes were held at the TUF’s Fordham Road site in the Bronx.

“I’ve always been a caring person, so I knew nursing was the right career for me and I also knew that financially I’d be better able to care for my family,” she says. In 2007, Bryan completed the pre-LPN program. And in 2012, at the age of 65, she went on to earn her Associates of Applied Science at Hostos. In 2013 the college presented her with the prestigious Charles A. Burns Outstanding Adult Continuing Education Student Award for her exceptional drive and persistence.

Today Ruby Bryan is a proud Registered Nurse. She works one job and she earns about 13 times her old salary. She says education is a vital plank for raising up all women and securing their economic futures. Statistics bear out her assertion. In 2008 the poverty rate for women with a bachelor’s degree or higher was just 4.2 percent. And for women with some college it was 9.8 percent. This compares to a poverty rate of 18.3 percent poverty rate for women with a high school degree or less.

“It’s like a ladder—each rung is one small success, and you go higher,” she says. “We have to set small goals and take them one at a time. We stay away from negativity and find the people who will work with us. They say it takes a village to raise a child—well, we all have to find good people to work with us along the way to help us succeed.”

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

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Advancing

Her Dad’s Legacy

Westchester member is working on various fronts.

Eve Shoenthal is nearly 60 and lives in a comfortable home with a loving husband, Eric.

Her two grown children, Matthew and Michael, are on their own and enjoy fulfilling careers.

While most workers her age are making retirement plans, Shoenthal is a busy occupational therapist at Westchester County’s Centerlight Day Health and is stepping up her activities.

“I’ve not been unhappy, but I felt the need to be connected to people who were carrying on the dreams of my late father,” she says.

Her dad, Leon Sverdlove – who died in 2009 at age 99 – was a life-long organizer, left-wing activist, civil rights champion and WW II hero.

He took on racketeers and rose to the presidency of the International Jewelry Workers Union. He was a contemporary of 1199 founder Leon Davis and a good friend of 1199 pioneer Moe Foner; like Foner, Sverdlove was proud to be named to disgraced Pres. Richard Nixon’s enemies list in

the early 1970s.

Sverdlove never stopped giving. In retirement and in his 90s, he volunteered daily at a homeless shelter and at a local hospital. With him Shoenthal took part in countless labor, civil rights and peace marches and many historic events, including the March on Washington in 1963 and the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968.

“Nobody will ever replace my dad,” Shoenthal declares. “He was the most incredible person. He taught and inspired. I was marching in Labor Day parades as far back as I can remember.”

Her office in her Westchester home pays tribute to her father. It contains much of the memorabilia—photos, letters and awards—Sverdlove amassed during his years of leadership and service. Her late mother also influenced Shoenthal’s career path.

“A big life event occurred when I was 22,” Shoenthal recalls. “My mother, Sema, suffered a massive stroke and brain bleed. She was in a coma for five years before her death.”

“Life has brought me to the profession of occupational therapist,” she says. “I know I have a gift for caring for very sick people. Then when I got sick I seemed to have even greater insight, being on both sides of the fence as patient and therapist.”

Today, she struggles with several autoimmune diseases, but she doesn’t allow that to dampen her spirits. For many years early in her career, Shoenthal, who at this writing expects to soon be sworn in as a delegate, worked in a non-union setting as both a therapist and a manager. When she arrived in 2010 at Centerlight – formerly Beth Abraham – she learned that the therapists had been left out of the bargaining unit when the center came into 1199SEIU some 12 years earlier.

“I began bugging the officers and organizers endlessly to bring us in immediately,” she recalls.

She now counts those 1199SEIU staffers as her heroes and mentors. “These brothers and sisters in a way filled a hole that I never thought could be filled after my dad’s death. I needed the Union in my life, and they helped me do that.”

“ I needed the Union in my life.”

—Eve Shoenthal, occupational therapist at Westchester County’s Centerlight Day Health

IN THE UNITED STATES

THE WEALTHIEST CAPTURED

1% 95% OF THE POST-FINANCIAL CRISIS GROWTH

SINCE 2009 WHILE THE BOTTOM 90% BECAME

POORER 11

March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

“YOU ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF OUR COMMUNITIES” Thousands rally to safeguard homecare and long-term care in New York State.

THE BOTTOM

HALF OF THE WORLD POPULATION

OWNS THE SAME AS THE

85

RICHEST

PEOPLE IN THE WORLD

Members of 1199SEIU rallied more than 5,000 strong on March 26 in Albany to defend quality long term care in New York State.

Nursing home, home care and hospital workers sent lawmakers a strong message: protect the funding for homecare workers’ benefits and wages and ensure fair wages for nursing home workers. To that end, NY state’s new budget commits $380 million to ensure wage parity among homecare workers based on collective bargaining agreements.

With major changes in how care is funded, the transition to New York State’s new managed care system has been a struggle for workers, the patients, and the industries.

“I told my workers that they had to come because this is a very, very important moment. It’s about saving jobs, insurance and the good of our clients,” said Maria Cantillo, home health aide for more than two decades with New York City’s Jewish Community Council. “If we don’t fight we could lose our benefits. We need to be very clear about that. We have to educate people about why this so important. I’m not just here for myself. I’m here for everyone in our hospitals, nursing homes and homecare.”

Driven by 1199SEIU’s cornerstone principle “an injury to one is an injury to all,” contingents of members from across downstate New York poured into the Albany Armory.

“This is about quality care. I see what’s going on, so I felt I had to be here. They are coming after the caregivers. You have to wonder what’s going on in our society,” said Rosa Nolacso, a patient financial representative in the pediatric emergency room at Manhattan’s New York Presbyterian Medical Center. “We all need to make our voices heard. I have a 13-year-old daughter. If these things were facing me and I lost my benefits, I honestly don’t know what would happen to her.”

The electrified, capacity crowd greeted speakers with thunderous applause, cheers and hundreds of fluttering signs emblazoned with “Quality Care Before Profits” and “Healthcare for Healthcare Workers.” On stage, a diverse group of home health aides was joined by several elected officials, including NYS Assembly member Dick Gottfried and Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Gustavo Rivera, who vowed their support and shared personal experiences.

“You are the heart and soul of our communities,” Stewart-Cousins said. “You took

care of my mother when I had to work and couldn’t do it for her. You took care of my father in the nursing home. The reality is that we have to take care of you.”

A deafening roar greeted 1199SEIU Pres.

George Gresham, who walked on stage wearing a familiar purple and gold knit winter cap.

“We are not here because we don’t have anything better to do,” said Gresham, whose mother was a homecare worker. “We’re here because we deserve quality care. We deserve decent pay and to make a decent living so we can support our families.”

Gresham pledged 1199SEIU’s commitment to securing fair pay and benefits for caregivers.

“We don’t stop until we get it right,” said Gresham. “If we have to double up in size, empty out the nursing homes and hospitals or empty out New York City, we don’t stop until we get the dignity we deserve.”

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More than 5,000 caregivers— including hundreds of retired members—rallied in Albany, NY on March 26 to protect long-term care in New York State.

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March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

Photos: Jim Tynan

Culture

Farewell

Pete Seeger “His songs spoke to the dignity and aspirations of working folks.”

Most 1199SEIU members have sung, hummed, or are at least familiar with the gospel-inspired civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” What many don’t know is that Pete Seeger is the man most responsible for popularizing the song we honor today.

Pete Seeger - singer, songwriter, and activist who used music as tool for social change - died Jan. 27 at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He was 94.

Ruth Massey, an 1199SEIU retiree from New York Presbyterian, reflected on what Seeger meant to her and the labor movement.

“Pete was a revered hero to countless people throughout the world, yet his presence and impact always felt so personal for me,” she said. “He had a deep respect for working people and so many of his songs spoke to the dignity and aspirations of working folks.

He was a lifelong supporter of unions,

worker solidarity and organizing the unorganized. I think I recall that he sang at the first delegate assembly after our Save Our Union victory, so many years ago! In my family, it’s a great compliment to be serenaded with Pete’s “There once was a union maid who never was afraid….” I raised my children and now my grandchildren on Pete’s music and know that it provides an inspiration for them to work toward Pete’s vision.”

In the 1950s, Seeger was blacklisted because of his political associations, including his 1940s membership in the Communist Party.

He was subpoenaed by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee.

“I feel that in my whole life I have never done anything of any conspiratorial nature,” Seeger told the Committee.

“I am not going to answer any questions as to my associations, my philosophical

or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this.”

He offered to sing the songs mentioned by the congressmen who questioned him and the Committee turned him down. Seeger was indicted in 1957 on 10 counts of contempt of Congress. In 1961 he was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison, but the next year an appeals court dismissed the indictment as faulty. He disappeared from commercial recordings until the late 1960s. But he never stopped recording, performing and listening to songs from ordinary people.

Throughout his life, Seeger inspired and collaborated with hundreds of musicians and social activists.

His television blacklist ended in the mid-1960s, and he hosted a regionally broadcast, educational, folk music television show in Newark, N.J. The Smothers Brothers ended Seeger’s national blacklisting by broadcasting him singing the anti-war song, “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” on their CBS variety show on Feb. 25, 1968, after his similar performance in September 1967 was censored by CBS. Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and Seeger together sang Woody Guthrie’s paean, “This Land Is Your Land” at President Obama’s first inauguration in January 2009. A resident of New York’s Hudson Valley, Seeger was a passionate environmental activist. He started a campaign for cleaner water on the Hudson River and raised money to build the Clearwater, a 106-foot sloop, launched in June 1969 with a crew of

“He was a lifelong supporter of unions, worker solidarity and organizing the unorganized.”

– 1199SEIU retiree Ruth Massey musicians. The ship was a rallying point for antipollution efforts and education.

He celebrated his 90th birthday on May 3, 2009 at a concert held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Dozens of musicians joined the event to pay tribute to their icon and the show benefitted the Clearwater organization.

Seeger continues to touch the lives of everyday musicians and music lovers.

Jeff Vogel, now an 1199SEIU retiree, was a respiratory therapist at Beth Israel Hospital and remains a longtime member of the Labor Chorus.

“We consider Pete Seeger our godfather. He helped us find our founding director, he came to rehearsals and we performed with him many times,” Vogel says. “He had this magical way of making you feel like you were a part of something. I’m not sure if it was his spirit, or his authenticity, but it was always uplifting and you always learned something.”

“Pete Seeger leaves a legacy. We just have to make sure that younger people are aware of it. For our part, the Labor Chorus is performing a tribute to him at our next concert this month.”

Singer/Songwriter Pete Seeger was an activist who used his music for social change.

“Seeger’s determination to bring people together and cross boundaries is what we must now carry forward,” says Massey. She recalled him at a 2011 Occupy Wall Street action, trading his banjo for canes and marching down Broadway with hundreds of people, accompanied by his grandson Tao Rodriguez Seeger, composer David Amram and bluesman Guy Davis.

People shouted out the verses of protest anthems, sang and chanted as he passed them by.

“I watched in awe, marching down Broadway behind him,” Massey says.

“It is up to us now to make sure that all 1199SEIU members and all generations are exposed to the power of Pete’s music. It can only make us stronger.”

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The Last Word: POVERTY

Marian Wright Edelman is the founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), the nation’s leading voice for children and families. Before founding the CDF in 1973, Mrs. Edelman was the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi bar and served as counsel for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign.

She has dedicated her life to social justice and ensuring opportunity for all children, safe communities and healthy, secure families.

Mrs. Edelman spoke with Our Life And Times about the scourge of poverty in the U.S. and the toll it’s taking on our children.

OLAT: In one of your recent weekly columns you tasked today’s leaders with preparing our children of color— and all children­—for the future. How do we help our children in today’s society when they face vast income inequality, healthcare disparities, violence and so many other societal inequities?

Marian Wright Edelman: The toxic cocktail of poverty, racial disparities in child-serving systems, poor education, and zero tolerance school discipline policies is creating a Cradle to Prison Pipeline® crisis in our nation which funnels millions of children, especially children of color, into dead end unproductive lives. But this is not an act of God­—this is something we can change. It will take all of us— parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, young people, and national, faith, and other community leaders, together with policymakers—reaching out to confront the structural inequalities of opportunity and outcomes that contribute to more than 16 million children, one in five, living in poverty and to end the Cradle to Prison Pipeline crisis. We must level the playing field so all children can develop to their full potential.

We must first reach out to children in our own families, neighborhoods, congregations, and communities to help get children what they need to move ahead to successful futures. We must never underestimate the impact of one caring adult or give up on any child. But families and community members cannot do this alone. We must also make our voices heard with policymakers at all levels. By investing now in early childhood development and learning, for example, the federal government, states, and cities can combat child poverty, help all children succeed in school and in life, and strengthen our nation’s future. To learn more about ways that you can step up and take action, go to www.childrensdefense.org.

OLAT: President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty 50 years ago. Today there doesn’t seem to be the same political will to raise people out of poverty. Is this true? How do you propose to change this?

MWE: If we are to end child poverty and finish the task President Johnson and Dr. King began, we must get President Obama and America’s political leaders in every party at every level to mount a long overdue, unwavering, and persistent war on poverty. Two- and three-year-old children have no politics, and we must reject any leaders who for any reason play political football with the lives of millions of our children and our nation’s future.

If America is to lead in the 21st century world, we must reset our economic and moral compass. We know so much more than we did even a decade ago, and certainly more than 50 years ago. We know what to do and how to do it. To those who claim our nation cannot afford to prevent our children from going hungry and homeless and prepare all our children for school, I say we cannot afford not to. If the foundation of your house is crumbling you must fix it. Education is a lot cheaper than ignorance. Quality preschool education is a bargain compared to prison.

And consider how many good jobs a full plan to end child poverty would create.

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March/April 2014 • Our Life And Times

If America’s dream continues to fade for millions of children and families, work wages continue to decline, and education and basic survival needs continue to be ravaged to protect the powerful interests of the top one percent that has cornered nearly 20 percent of the nation’s income, then America will miss the boat to the future. We cannot afford not to act. It is up to all of us to make that case.

OLAT: There is a real movement for universal pre-K happening. Why is early childhood education so vital?

MWE: CDF believes investing in high quality early childhood development and learning is an effective poverty prevention strategy that begins to level the playing field for all children and provide a foundation for future success with lifelong benefits. We know if we properly support children in their early years of rapid brain development, not only will they benefit, but so will America. CDF emphasizes the need for a continuum of support in the early years from birth through age five and pre-kindergarten is a critically important part of that continuum. We know these investments are key to the success of our children and our nation’s long term economic growth.

First, extensive research has demonstrated how young children, particularly disadvantaged children, can benefit from quality early childhood investments. Quality programs positively impact a child’s early brain development, which is rapid during those early years.

They help children start school more ready to learn with stronger social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Studies that have followed children after pre-school report they are more likely to graduate from high school and maintain a job and are less likely to be funneled into the prison pipeline.

Second, investing in early childhood development and learning is not only the right thing to do but the smart and cost-effective thing to do. Our country’s top economists and researchers agree investments in high quality early childhood development and learning programs are the best education and economic investment we can make for the future of the nation. Investments in quality early childhood programs provide a substantial economic return to society.

Nobel Laureate economist Dr. James Heckman reports an economic return at a rate of seven to 10 percent a year – a rate of return higher than many investments.

And third, there is broad support for investments in early childhood development and learning. SEIU1199 has been at the forefront in Mayor de Blasio’s efforts to expand universal pre-K in New York City. And across the country leaders in both Republican and Democratic led states have made investments over the years in early childhood, including North Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, New Jersey, and Arkansas. Polls show the public supports these investments and business leaders, police officers, and military leaders have mobilized in support of them.

OLAT: What are some positive ways working people can get involved in making change for our children?

MWE: I invite them to join CDF in calling on Congress to pass the Strong Start for

America’s Children Act (S. 1697/H.R. 3461) that would lay the foundation for success for millions of children in poor families. Despite what we know about the benefits of early childhood investments, the gap is great between what we know and what we do. There is a great unmet need across the country for quality early childhood development and learning experiences for young children. Only 48 percent of poor children are ready to learn at age five compared to 75 percent of children from families with moderate and high incomes. Only about 41 percent of eligible three- and four-year-olds benefit from Head Start, and only about 4 percent of eligible children benefit from Early Head Start.

Ask your Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the Strong Start for America’s Children Act now and urge your friends and colleagues to reach out to their own Congressional delegations.

As you talk to them about it you will be educating them about the importance of early childhood investments and they can spread the word further. Very briefly, the Strong Start Act for America’s Children Act does three things: •

•

•

Photo courtesy of the Children’s Defense Fund

To read an expanded version of this interview, log on to www.1199SEIU.org.

Marian Wright Edelman

Provides funding for a full continuum of early childhood development and learning activities, with special emphasis on pre-kindergarten programs for poor four-year-olds.

Promotes quality care for poor children, including those with special needs, by requiring that programs established meet high quality benchmarks such as high staff qualifications, full-day care, comprehensive services, and more.

Engages local education agencies and community-based early childhood education programs in delivering these services and also provides a fullrange of comprehensive services and family supports.

In addition to pushing forward the Strong Start for America’s Children Act, join with others in your own states and communities to increase investments in early childhood so the state will be eligible for the new federal funding when it becomes available.

We have got to be committed and persistent in pushing ahead on behalf of children. I often think of Sojourner Truth, one of my role models, a brilliant and indomitable slave woman who could neither read nor write but who was passionate about ending unjust slavery and second-class treatment of women.

At the end of one of her antislavery talks in Ohio, a man came up to her and said, “Old woman, do you think that your talk about slavery does any good? Do you suppose people care what you say? Why, I don’t care anymore for your talk than I do for the bite of a flea.” “Perhaps not,” she answered, “but, the Lord willing, I’ll keep you scratching.” We must all be determined and persistent fleas until the well-being of children is a national priority. Enough fleas biting strategically can make the biggest dog uncomfortable.

Enough fleas biting strategically can help move us forward in gaining Congressional support for needed investments in early childhood development and learning.

1 IN 5 CHILDREN

(16.1 MILLION)

WAS POOR

IN 2012

A Win for Universal

Pre-K

New York State lawmakers in April approved $300 million to fund the expansion of pre-kindergarten programs in NYC schools. The money will provide 53,000 full-time seats next year. Pre-K expansion was a cornerstone of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign.

See story on page 9.