Union activists celebrated International Women’s Day up and down the East Coast in a variety of events designed to build solidarity.

In Rochester, New York, 1199ers celebrated alongside SEIU Local 200United with a "United We Brunch" event at the union hall.

"It was a wonderful feeling to sit among Beautiful Sisters of all colors and break bread together," said Robin White, PCA at UMRC Strong Memorial Hospital.

"I experienced a wonderful group of women, so much knowledge," added Joan Fernandez, Dietary Clerk, who also works at Strong. In Florida on March 21, members celebrated Women’s History Month by honoring organizers leading the effort to protect women’s reproductive freedom in the state. 1199 is part of a coalition which helped gather signatures for the ‘Yes on 4’ campaign to put reproductive rights on the 2024 general election ballot. Voters in the sunshine state now have the chance to create a constitutional amendment protecting their freedom and prevent a potential 6-week abortion ban that is looming on the horizon. At press time the state’s supreme court was still deliberating about whether to allow the ballot initiative to move forward.

Members from Whitman-Walker Health in Washington, D.C. attended the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s Black Women’s Roundtable (BWR), which honored Women’s History Month by hosting its 13th Annual BWR Women of Power National Summit and bringing together Black women leaders and allies from across the nation to develop organizing and empowerment plans to lift and improve the lives of Black and underserved women, girls and families.