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

Home health workers across the Union have been leading the way for vaccinations and PPE for home-based care workers. In New York City, 1199SEIU homecare workers have helped organize a host of vaccination and PPE distribution events. Homecare members and staff have been helping workers get vaccinated and obtain PPE; they have been providing transportation assistance as well and helping their Union family with paperwork and vaccination appointments. Over 200 1199ers participated in a March 8 vaccination event at New York City’s Personal Touch Agency.

Shortly after his election in 2008, President Barack Obama famously responded to Republican attacks on the Affordable Care Act by reminding the opposition that “elections have consequences.” Indeed, they do.

1199SEIU members made history in April. Nursing home reforms that workers have been trying to win for decades were finally enacted by the New York State legislature. The fuse was lit last January, when angry, frustrated, and exhausted nursing home workers launched the Invest In Quality Care Campaign. Worn out by the pandemic and years of neglect, 1199ers took on a visionary, direct-action campaign that called attention to the desperate conditions in some of the state’s nursing homes, along with the lack of transparency and accountability that has allowed nursing home owners to enrich themselves. Even as workers struggled to find enough hours in the day to care for their residents.

Now that more of us are vaccinated, it is time to think about what we can do while staying safe. You are fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and two weeks after the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. If you have not completed ALL of these steps, you are NOT fully vaccinated and you should continue taking all precautions. But if you are fully vaccinated or on your way—congratulations*.

Join us—and a special guest—for updates on League negotiations, as well as a number of other campaigns and issues. Pre-meeting music will be provided by DJ Fire Cle!

After years of urging lawmakers to resolve the issue of short-staffing and its impact on quality care, 1199SEIU members scored a big win today in their “Invest in Quality Care” campaign, (www.investinqualitycare.org) when the NYS Assembly and Senate passed legislation that requires minimum staffing at all nursing homes. Both houses also passed a bill that addresses safe staffing in hospitals.

MIAMI – Members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East – the largest union of healthcare workers in Florida – have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract negotiated with HCA hospitals throughout the state that secures across-the-board raises and other benefits for nurses and other staff who have served on the front lines of the COVID-19 public health crisis.

We are proud to welcome nearly 40 new members who work in the Technical Unit of St Anthony’s Community Hospital in Warwick, New York, into the 1199SEIU family.

We are proud to welcome more than 80 new members who work in the Technical Unit of Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, New York, into the 1199SEIU family.

As lawmakers in Tallahassee finalize the Florida budget, I hope they take a sober look back over this past year while the COVID-19 healthcare crisis raged through the state, tragically highlighting many of the shortcomings of our healthcare system.