When a 5,000-member drug store union, took on the formidable task of organizing New York’s powerful voluntary hospitals in 1959, hospital workers earned as little as $32 for a 44 to 48-hour work week. Some 10 years later, those hospital workers had quadrupled their salaries and gained significant benefits.
Today, our contract standards are second to none in the nation’s healthcare industry. And 1199SEIU has emerged as one of New York City’s most powerful forces for economic justice. Throughout our history, we have joined hands and marched shoulder to shoulder with economic justice advocates.
We worked with Occupy Wall Street, and we have become a major force in the Fight for $15 movement. We continue to fight for training and career ladders for 1199ers regardless of classification. We also lobby for programs and legislation for workers as a whole.
Feb 19, 2020
Bill Pigford came of age in Laurel, Mississippi, in the early 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr Martin Luther…
Jun 4, 2019
Fifty years ago, in the spring of 1959, some 450 workers at two Charleston, South Carolina, hospitals struck for more than three months for…
Dec 26, 2018
Anxiety punctuated much of the last year, but 1199ers continued to shine, winning in the workplace, standing up to attacks on health care,…
Jul 9, 2018
Since collective bargaining rights were written into law eight decades ago there hasn’t been such a hostile political environment for…
Apr 30, 2018
Coretta Scott King, the wife and fellow activist of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also occupies a place of honor in 1199’s history.
Apr 4, 2018
I came into this world around the same time that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a young minister, made history by leading the Montgomery,…
Jan 5, 2016
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Maryland/DC Division came together with community organizations to make the holidays special fo...
Mar 15, 2013
BOSTON - Last month, more than 100 people attended a Black History Month celebration at the 1199SEIU Massachusetts union hall in honor o...
