The Heart of Maryland-DC

04/12/2016

DC Home Health Aide, Tiffany Hunter on why it's important for workers to show up on April 14 day of action.

01/27/2016

Did you brave or other past storms to care for your patients? Post your stories and photos using .

08/19/2015

Paper applications are now available for recertification. This option also allows you to pay with a check or money order. Read more at the website: http://theheartofmaryland-dc.org/2015/08/19/expanded-recertification-options-for-dc-home-health-aides/

05/04/2015

The nurses, caregivers and staff of the Maryland-DC Region of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East commend State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and the Baltimore area community for vigilance in seeking justice for Freddie Gray, who died from injuries inflicted while in police custody.

While our justice system rightly determines that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, the charges issued today against six officers of the Baltimore Police Department, illustrate that no one, including any police officer, is above the law.

Freddie Gray’s death has sparked two weeks of protest in Baltimore and around the country by those of us who are calling for justice in this case and in too many similar cases of baseless arrest, harassment, brutality and even death at the hands of police.

“We believe the way forward is through organizing and non-violent protest with our sisters and brothers in the social justice movement,” said Lisa Brown, executive vice president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Maryland-DC Region. “We not only need to ensure police accountability, but also we must address economic inequality and the root causes of young people’s anger and despair. We cannot progress as a nation until every community has education and recreational opportunities, affordable housing, civil rights, economic security and good jobs with a living wage.”

We support and look forward to working with organizations and concerned citizens in coalition to address these social justice issues going forward, for the sake of Baltimore, all of Maryland and our communities nationwide.

1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in Maryland and the nation. We represent 400,000 members throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida, with nearly 7,000 members in Baltimore. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.
http://www.1199seiu.org/the_nation_s_largest_healthcare_workers_union_commends_state_s_attorney_marilyn_mosby .wzXItxt9.8GRgCFqT.dpbs

04/30/2015

Justice for Freddie Gray!

07/18/2014

Here's to all nurses and caregivers...

07/08/2014

Hopkins Caregivers Reach Tentative Agreement
With Hospital to Substantially Boost Wage Rates

- Contract includes raises as high as 38% for low-paid workers, a boost of as much as $4.30 an hour over the life of the contract

- Agreement immediately establishes $15-an-hour minimum wage for workers with 20+ years, and a $14.50/hour minimum in 2015 for workers with 15+ years

- Raises at Hopkins, Baltimore’s largest healthcare employer, will set a higher standard for workers all across the city

- Union members at Hopkins will hold ratification vote Thursday and Friday, July 10 and 11

BALTIMORE — Early Tuesday morning, 2,000 caregivers at Johns Hopkins Hospital reached a tentative agreement with management on a new contract. The four-and-a-half year agreement would dramatically improve pay for low-wage workers at Hopkins.

Low-paid employees at Hopkins would receive raises as high as 38 percent over the life of the contract. The Hopkins workers — members of Eleven Ninety-Nine S.E.I.U. — also won a $15-an-hour minimum wage that will apply immediately to workers with 20 years of service. Workers with 15 years of service will make at least $14.50 in 2015.

“This is an important victory for patients and workers all across Baltimore,” said John Reid, executive vice president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East for the Maryland/DC region. “Johns Hopkins Hospital sets the standard for healthcare in our city and that standard has just been raised.”

Highlights of the agreement include:

• Total raises as high as 38 percent for long-time, low-paid Hopkins workers, a boost of as much as $4.30 an hour over the life of the contract.

• A $14.50 minimum wage in 2015 for workers with 15 years’ experience, whose pay will rise to over $15 an hour in 2017. Current workers will make at least $13/hour by 2018.

• Across-the-board raises of at least 2% every year, with a 2% raise and a 0.5% bonus in the first year of the contract, and a 2.75% raise in 2017.

• An agreement to establish a committee to review market rates for surgical techs, pharmacy techs and other workers whose pay is under market.

The tentative agreement represents a significant improvement over what Hopkins management had called its last, best and final wage offer in early April. Hopkins workers mounted an intense contract campaign once bargaining began on March 4.

The Hopkins caregivers held a three-day strike in April, a mass rally in the Inner Harbor in May, and scheduled a four-day strike in late June. The second strike was called off after Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley intervened on the eve of the walkout and asked both parties to agree to a one-week cooling-off period.

The parties held two more bargaining sessions after O’Malley’s request, and reached the tentative agreement at roughly 2 a.m. on Tuesday. Hopkins members will hold a contract ratification vote on Thursday and Friday, July 10 and 11.

With over 400,000 caregivers, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. Almost 10,000 caregivers in Maryland and D.C. are united in 1199SEIU. Together, they work to ensure quality care and good jobs for all.

05/12/2014

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/05/10/hopkins-service-workers-rallying-for-better-pay-bring-star-power-to-baltimore/

The battle heats up between 2,000 service workers and administrators at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Some union workers say they're living in poverty while the hospital makes millions.

05/12/2014

YOU ON ABC 2! Another story about the massive Mothers' March & Rally for Justice at Johns Hopkins on Saturday.

http://www.abc2news.com/news/region/baltimore-city/hopkins-workers-rally-for-higher-pay

Johns Hopkins workers continue to make their case for higher pay.

05/05/2014

Gov. O’Malley Signs Bill for Equal Labor Protections at UMMC ...

A new law provides caregivers at the University of Maryland Medical Center the same labor protections enjoyed by workers at every other UMMS hospital in the state and by the vast majority of workers in the U.S. Maryland’s largest healthcare union says that fair work conditions support quality care for patients. http://ummscodered.org/

03/19/2014

MD LEGISLATORS APPROVE LABOR PROTECTIONS FOR UMMC WORKERS
Both the Maryland State House of Delegates and Senate voted on Friday in favor of new legislation that will provide equal labor protections to 5,000 workers at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. http://ummscodered.org/

02/25/2014

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela both shared the deep conviction that civil rights and economic justice go hand in hand. Mandela declared that “poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.” And King urged a “radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.”