1199: Fight for the Members, Not the Politicians

Healthcare is under attack and, like every other union, so is 1199. But instead of gathering delegates and members to discuss how to fight back against the politicians and hospital CEOs, the 1199 leadership hosts a meeting, unknown to much of the membership. What sense does this make?

The leadership should be doing everything it can to prepare the union for the contract negotiations and the battles coming at us. Instead of doing that, the 1199 leadership is sucking up to the Democrats and investing union dues into the midterm elections. It might be the Republicans in office who are attacking the working class now, but it’s the Democrats who are looking to regain seats so that they can do a better job at crushing us. Let’s not forget, the Dems have a history of tearing up contracts and bringing down the conditions of workers. From Obama, Biden, Cuomo to Adams (now Mamdani), all have stomped on unions and our leaders have just let them get away with it.

This is not how the 1199 leadership explains the situation. They say that working with politicians and the bosses can get us a better contract. This isn’t true! Any “deal” with the bosses and their politicians will come at our expense. That’s why fighting for a strong contract means fighting against the politicians. Our leadership knows this but continues to say that their current strategy works for us. But it’s this strategy that is weakening our huge union. If we continue on this road it will lead to our union being smashed!

A stronger contract means a stronger union. For the League contract expiring in September we need to fight for:

1. Get rid of the no-strike clause! This clause only benefits the bosses. The ability to strike is the ability to survive. With the attacks coming in from the Trump administration we need to be able to fight back. Unleash the power of 1199! Unleash the power of the majority black and Hispanic working class!

2. Hands off our benefits! For years delegates have blackmailed us into thinking we need to accept the no-strike clause if we want to maintain our benefits. To hell with that! We can fight and keep our benefits.

3. Fight for 10/10/10! The leadership calls it a victory that we got 7/6/5 but this didn’t even touch inflation. We need higher wages to survive. Anything lower than this is asking for crumbs.

4. Bring everyone under the League contract! There are many workers represented by 1199 who pay dues to the union but aren’t covered by the contract. Home Healthcare workers are an example of this. They’re forced to work 24 hours, get paid for 13 hours and are threatened by the bosses and delegates if they want to fight for better conditions. Workers are asking, “Why do I need a union?” Enough! All 1199 members need to be under the League contract, with the same expiry date and defended by the delegates. The leadership also needs to organize non-union workers. The bosses keep non-union workers around to pit them against us. Bringing these workers into the union stops the bosses’ divide-and-rule scheme and strengthens our ranks.