Happy New Year!
This new year brings new and familiar challenges as well as opportunities to make our workplaces and communities work for us.
We know from our own negotiations and actions that when we fight for what we need, we win. And we’re part of a much larger movement of workers who, after two years of this pandemic, are fed up. As The Guardian reported, from coffee shops to hospitals and everywhere in between, in 2021 “Workers went on strike and pushed union drives in record numbers after corporations made giant pandemic profits.”
This year, we can translate the challenges of Omicron into an opportunity to come together to get us what we need – a real end to the pandemic and excellent wages, benefits, and working conditions. In this newsletter, you’ll read about gains we’ve made and opportunities for us to get stronger in the new year.
I wish you peace, prosperity, and power this 2022.
In Solidarity,
Lisa Brown
Executive Vice President
1199SEIU Maryland/DC
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On December 14, Long Term Care members Lucinda Duffin, Reeba McKenny, and Rhonda White asked candidates for Maryland Governor how they would improve long term care in Maryland. Here’s the full question they asked:
Maryland has one of the longest waiting lists in the country for Medicaid home and community-based services. The Washington Post reported that 21,000 Marylanders are on a waiting list to receive home care services. I know firsthand that we’re struggling with a major shortage of caregivers, and reports show that in 3 years, we will need almost 40% more caregivers than we have now. The truth is that low wages are contributing to this crisis because caregivers earn on average $13 an hour. We can’t do this difficult and important work if we can’t take care of our own families.
Under the proposed Build Back Better Act, states could get billions of dollars in federal funds for long term care. To get this funding, Maryland would have to show plans for expanding and improving homecare programs and for paying direct caregivers more.
What kinds of changes would you immediately make to improve long term care services in Maryland and to ensure that our state does not lose out on this federal funding?
Watch the candidates’ answers to this question and more on our Facebook page, and check out the Community Affairs section of this newsletter for how to get involved in the election.
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1199 Members Deliver for Kids at Christmas
Johns Hopkins Delegates teamed up with 1199SEIU staff Carrietta Heirs and Nichelle McGirt and Hopkins HR to donate 10 boxes of Christmas toys for kids in our union family and our communities.
We collected toys as part of the Baltimore Metro Council AFL-CIO’s Christmas in July project so that no child would be toyless at Christmas. This project has been in the works for 10 years, and this was the first year that our union partnered with HR at Hopkins to make it even bigger.
1199SEIU contributed by far the most toys to the drive, delivering smiles to kids all across Baltimore City. Thank you for donating!
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Baltimore Hospitals Organizers:
Alida McBride - (443) 635-9332
Lisa Epps - (443) 562-9885
Maurice Brown - (410) 207-2182
Carrie Hiers - (443) 562-9884
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SAVA Members Win Great Contract Across 3 Facilities
Congratulations to members at SAVA, who ratified a great contract on November 18! This was the first time that 3 SAVA nursing homes – Summit Park, Overlea, and Bethesda – bargained at the same time for the same contract. Bargaining together certainly made us stronger at the table! Members won Juneteenth as a paid holiday, better paid leave policy, increased starting rates, bonuses of $200-$500 for every year of the contract depending on years of service, raises every 6 months, an excellent union health insurance plan, and more. Shout out to the bargaining committee members who stayed strong to start 2022 with a great new contract!
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Long Term Care Organizers:
Cathy Ferrell - (443) 469-7757
James Crosby - (202) 440-1203
Nichelle McGirt - (202) 262-2289
Tredonna Geter-Kum - (443) 721-6190
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Update your contact information today!
It's that time of year again! We are gearing up for union-wide elections and need all members to update your contact info and mailing address. Please click here and take 2 minutes to update your contact info. Thank you!
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Southern Maryland Organizers:
Gail Kingman - (301) 525-5541
LaShaun Faulkner - (410) 458-4266
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Lashon Medley’s New Career
This month, we’d like you to meet Lashon Medley, who has been working in Environmental Services at United Medical Center for years and is now starting to get shifts as a Tech in the Lab, after taking free courses through 1199’s Training and Upgrading Fund. Lashon said it took her a while to finally start the courses “because I always said later, I’ll do it later.” Lashon finally decided it was time because she was ready to do different kind of work, while staying in healthcare. “I was surprised actually at how easily I could do the classes. It didn’t take too much time, and now I can start to do the lab work.” Lashon gave this advice to her coworkers, “Take the classes. Do it today; don’t wait.” We wish Lashon the best of luck on her new career path!
Career courses are free and available to all United Medical Center members. Check out their course catalog in this newsletter, and email Synkeithia.Holly@1199funds.org for more information.
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DC - CBO Organizers:
Angel De La Rosa Peña - (301) 377-6474
Lisa Wallace - (202) 320-4628
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Who Should Maryland’s Next Governor Be?
We're voting for a new governor for Maryland this year. From COVID-19 recovery, to workplace power, to building healthy communities, we need a governor who will work with us, not against us.
That’s why we joined with other SEIU members in December to interview candidates Wes Moore, Peter Franchot, Tom Perez, Doug Gansler, and Rushern Baker on issues Maryland’s working families face. You can watch these interviews on our Facebook page.
It’s so important that you help us decide who we should support for this important position.
So please join us for a special virtual ROC meeting on Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 6:00 PM. Just click here to join via Zoom.
For more information or help with joining Zoom, please contact your Delegate or organizer or email Brigette.Dumais@1199.org.
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Upcoming Virtual Trainings
Delegate Conversations, 01/13 at 6pm:
An opportunity to discuss with other veteran Delegates activities, challenges and victories from your shop. This is an opportunity to share best practices.
Note Taking for Delegates, Date TBD at 6pm:
Learn simple-to-use methods to take good notes for your bargaining, Labor Management, or Delegate meetings.
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2022 Course Catalog (dates to be determined)
Below is a list of the courses that the Training and Upgrading Fund (TUF) will be offering in 2022. The TUF staff are working on the specifics of these offerings and exploring additional trainings. Please stay tuned for the OFFICIAL CALENDAR and links to register in the next few weeks.
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- TUF Talk- Benefit Overview
- CPR (BLS for Health Providers)
- Medical Terminology (Words Based)
- Certificates in Aging and Health
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- Certificate in Pain Assessment & Management
- Certified Nursing Assistant Program
- ServSafe -Food Handler Certification
- Math & English Refreshers
- Health Career College Core Curriculum (HC-4)
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User warning: it’s hard to stop once you’ve started.
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In January 1959, 1199SEIU started one of our most significant organizing campaigns at New York City’s voluntary hospitals.
Many people thought it was a lost cause because the law did not allow voluntary hospital workers to collectively bargain. Workers also did not receive disability benefits, unemployment insurance, or minimum wage protection. Some were paid as little as $26 for a six-day, 48-hour week. The majority of service workers were women of color. Many had recently migrated from the South or were from Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. Some workers were assigned to work in the homes of supervisors on hospital time. Those who refused risked being fired.
People cautioned 1199 that organizing hospital workers meant taking on some of New York City’s most powerful forces. Undeterred, in May 1959, 3,500 workers walked off their jobs and struck for 46 days. Full union recognition would not come until 1962, but January 1959 was the beginning of the end of full-time work for part-time pay.
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