Statement of Milly Silva, Executive Vice President, on Supreme Court DAPA/DACA decision

After a long, hard battle, members at the Columbia Morningside and SSA bargaining units settled a new three-year contract including a three percent annual wage increase and a lump sum bonus payment of $500.

More than 1,200 longterm caregiver at a dozen for-profit nursing homes across two Western New York counties whose union contracts had expired joined together to win $15 an hour for service workers, higher starting rates for new employees, and standard wage scales for experience following months of unrest and strike action.

Teaching new staff members in Professional and Technical roles requires skill and dedication from older hands in the facility. In recognition of the extra work this requires, a pay differential known as “Preceptor Pay” was successfully negotiated at the last contract negotiation with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes.

Buffalo, NY – Today, Kaleida Health union nurses, clinical, professional, technical, service, dietary, and clerical staff represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East voted to ratify a new 3-year contract with the largest hospital system in WNY. The collective bargaining agreement includes industry-leading wages and safe staffing ratios. The agreement will cover over 6,300 union healthcare workers at Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children’s Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, HighPointe on Michigan, DeGraff Medical Park, and various community-based clinics. Of the members who voted, 91% from 1199SEIU and 74% from CWA Local 1168 and 1199SEIU were in favor of ratification.

On Thursday September 1, a day before the start of Labor Day weekend, 1199SEIU members and community leaders rallied at the 7th Street Park in Hudson and asked: “Will Columbia Memorial Hospital have enough staff to meet the community’s healthcare needs throughout the holiday?”

More than 1,000 members at the hospitals owned by Nuvance Health signed a letter to the Nuvance Board of Directors at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie and Putnam Hospital in Carmel, NY—calling on them to tackle short staffing. They sent the letter three different times, but unfortunately, when August came around, there was still no response.

Member Political Organizer (MPO) Kenzi Stewart recently experienced an up-close look at the very worst of Hurricane Ian that decimated Southwest Florida. Ian tragically killed more than 100 Floridians and left many more desperate and displaced when their homes were destroyed. Stewart evacuated her Fort Myers home to ride out the storm with family in Port Charlotte, both areas hit hard by historic water and wind. At her worksite, Fawcett Memorial Hospital, a large portion of the building’s roof above the ICU was torn off by Ian’s Category 4 winds.

Marching under the banner “Workers Leading, Workers Rising”—roughly 1,000 members and officers surged onto 5th Avenue to show solidarity with emerging unions at the Labor Day Parade in New York City on September 10th.

The mainstream media has downplayed one of the biggest stories of the year. I’m referring to the tens of thousands of workers organizing themselves into new unions. I’d say they “somehow” missed the significance of the story—but, of course, the media is owned and run by billionaires; workers forming unions is about the last thing they want their viewers and readers to learn about.

If ever there were a time to stand up for our families and our communities, this is it. It is less than two years since we went all out to help secure victory for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – at the height of the pandemic.