Registered Nurses Vote by 90% to Join 1199 at St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Queens

On Friday, September 16th, Registered Nurses at St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Bayside, Queens voted by a landslide to join 1199SEIU.  St. Mary’s RNs say they now have a voice to advocate for their patients, provide for their families and ensure good jobs for the communities in Queens.  The election for the 98 RNs follows a previous vote by 222 licensed professional nurses, nurses’ aides, clerks, dietary workers, housekeepers and others who voted by a wide margin to join 1199 in August.  Those workers have already begun the bargaining process, and soon St. Mary’s Registered Nurses will elect their bargaining team to sit down with management and negotiate an RN contract with job improvements. 

“It’s very important for Registered Nurses to have a voice in the delivery of care,” said Cynthia MacDonald, a Registered Nurse at St. Mary’s  “Having a voice means that we will be able to create workplace policies that benefit the children we care for and the communities we live in, along with helping to raise standards for Registered Nurses everywhere.”

During the campaign, St. Mary’s RNs faced a harsh anti-union campaign from the administration, but were supported by 1199SEIU RNs from other local hospitals, including NY Hospital Queens, Forest Hills and Jamaica Hospital.  1199 RNs have been able to negotiate safe staffing levels, no-cost continuing medical education, higher pay, a secure retirement, no-cost family health care, job security, benefits for part-timers and a real voice in patient care.  1199 RNs have also built a voice in local, state and federal government in order to advocate for fair healthcare funding, affordable, quality care and the rights of patients and working people.

“As RNs, we must have a professional voice to ensure quality care for our patients, especially when it comes to staffing levels,” said Clare Thompson, a Vice President of the RN Division of 1199SEIU.  “When you stand alone without a union, you have no support and no one will listen to your concerns.  But by joining together, management will listen, and Registered Nurses and all working people can have a say in our future.”

This recent victory proves that, despite what many politicians and corporate CEOs have claimed recently, unions play a vital role in New York and throughout America today. 

“We really are at a cross roads in this country,” said Mark Bergen, Vice President of 1199SEIU.  “There used to be a promise in our nation that if you worked hard and played by the rules, you could have a secure job, send your kids to college, advance your career and retire with dignity.  Unions are the best way to restore that promise, and make sure hard work is rewarded and that there is a strong, vibrant middle class in America.”