Collective bargaining on behalf of some 140,000 hospital and nursing home workers is beginning this month in New York City. Representing 1199SEIU will be an elected Negotiating Committee of some 500 rank-and-file healthcare workers. They will be conducting parallel talks with representatives of the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes and the Greater New York association of nursing homes.

The nursing home negotiations are set to begin today, May 8; the League talks will open on May 13. Union Negotiating Committee members from "Me Too" institutions--those that model their contracts on the League's but don't belong to it--will attend the League negotiations. The goal of the joint decision to reopen the contract is to find ways to stabilize the pension fund and preserve members' pension benefits.

For more information, visit 1199SEIU's news center.