1199 Needs a Leadership That Prepares Us to Fight

For the first time since the late 1980s, an opposition slate is on the ballot in 1199SEIU, the country’s largest healthcare union. But this slate has nothing different to offer. Like incumbent president George Gresham, the opposition pushes partnership with the hospital bosses and reliance on Democratic politicians. The results do not speak well of this strategy: The bosses run roughshod over the workers and impose increasingly unsafe conditions, especially since the Covid lockdowns, while hospitals are closed and Medicaid cuts are to be greatly accelerated.

We print here a March 27 leaflet by the Hospital Workers Building Union Power committee for the 1199SEIU elections in April.

Cuts to Medicaid and the VA, deportations and firings—Trump 2.0 is bad news for all hospital workers. The Gresham leadership and the Members First Unity slate have no strategy to fight back and promise only more of the same that got us here. The task for members today is to prepare the union for this new reality, and we propose the following measures as first steps:

Fight Short-staffing

The bosses are keeping every hospital short-staffed and imposing speedup, working us harder and making conditions unsafe for workers and patients alike. We have to fight back by demanding a serious raise and more hiring. The hospitals must be opened up to anyone who wants work, and they must be paid union wages while they learn the job. Why have the current union leaders not fought for such basic demands? They only ever ask for what they think the bosses will give, accepting the confines of the profit system that denies healthcare to millions.

As rents and costs go up, the bosses want us fighting one another for overtime. This race to the bottom stokes the racial, ethnic and job title divisions within the hospitals which can only weaken the union. By not taking up the fight to hire more staff, the union leaders allow these divisions to widen.

Dump the No-Strike Clause

Trump’s attacks are coming fast and furious, and 1199 will not be spared. But the union leaders will just preach reliance on the very Democrats who paved the way for Trump. Instead, we need to do everything to defend ourselves and our fellow workers. We need to be able to withdraw our labor collectively, i.e., strike. The no-strike clause in the League contract allows the bosses to walk all over us and gags members from even talking about any job actions whatsoever.

But the current union leaders cling to this clause, in part to justify their refusal to unite in struggle with other hospital workers. For example, during the 2023 NYSNA strike, 1199 used the no-strike clause to tell members to cross NYSNA picket lines. This treachery only furthers the exploitation of all of us. By having different unions with different contracts and expiration dates, the bosses can pick off one union at a time. The shackles must come off for the defensive struggles ahead. We need to dump this clause and fight to merge the unions in the hospitals.

Build a Strike Fund

To make the threat of a strike real, we need a fund to support members taking action. The leadership says there is no money for this, but what about all the millions it gives to the Democrats? We need to stop funding the bosses’ politicians and start to strengthen the union. We need to use our money for strikes, solidarity and organizing.