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| Local 2–1199 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Local 2–1199 |
| Location country | United States |
| Affiliation | District 1199C, National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Headquarters | New York, New York |
| Key people | Henry Katz; Leon J. Davis; George Hardy; William Lucy |
| Members | healthcare workers |
Local 2–1199
Local 2–1199 was a labor union representing hospital and healthcare workers in New York City and surrounding regions during the twentieth century. The local played a central role in organizing nursing aides, orderlies, and clerical staff across hospitals and long-term care facilities, interacting with institutions such as Mount Sinai Hospital, Bellevue Hospital, and the Veterans Administration. Its activities intersected with national labor movements involving the American Federation of Labor, Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the Service Employees International Union.
The origins trace to organizing drives in the 1930s influenced by the National Labor Relations Act and figures linked to the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the local engaged with employers including New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and New York University Medical Center, while interacting with public figures such as Fiorello La Guardia, Robert Moses, and Mayor John Lindsay. The 1960s and 1970s saw alliances and conflicts involving the United Auto Workers, the Teamsters, the United Federation of Teachers, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and community groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. During the 1980s and 1990s Local 2–1199 confronted privatization initiatives under governors such as Nelson Rockefeller and Mario Cuomo, negotiating with employer associations and governmental bodies including the New York State Department of Health and the United States Department of Labor.
Membership included nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, laboratory technicians, dietary workers, housekeeping staff, and clerical employees at institutions such as Bellevue Hospital, Kings County Hospital Center, Queens Hospital Center, St. Barnabas Hospital, and Harlem Hospital Center. Governance structures echoed those of national unions like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union, with shop stewards and executive boards coordinating with regional labor councils, the AFL–CIO, and the National Labor Relations Board. The local maintained affiliations, training programs, and pension negotiations comparable to initiatives by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and the United Mine Workers of America.
Contract negotiations covered wages, health benefits, pension plans, overtime, and grievance procedures at major employers including NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, Lenox Hill Hospital, and Montefiore Medical Center. Bargaining sessions brought in mediators and arbitrators linked to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, as well as lawyers from the National Labor Relations Board, while outcomes influenced standards adopted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and policy debates in the United States Senate and the New York State Assembly. Contract wins paralleled victories by unions like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Communications Workers of America, and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
Political engagement included endorsements and lobbying directed at mayors such as Ed Koch, David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani, and Michael Bloomberg, as well as state governors including Hugh Carey and Andrew Cuomo. The local collaborated with civil rights organizations like the NAACP, the National Urban League, and labor-oriented groups such as the AFL–CIO Political Committee and the Democratic Socialists of America. Its advocacy intersected with policy debates involving Medicare, Medicaid, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and legislation debated in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
Major labor actions saw picket lines at facilities such as St. Vincent's Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, drawing comparisons to strikes led by the United Auto Workers, the International Longshoremen's Association, and the American Postal Workers Union. Campaigns included civil disobedience, mass rallies in Times Square and Foley Square, and collaborations with student groups at Columbia University and unions like the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (UNITE HERE). These actions sometimes prompted intervention by courts including the New York Court of Appeals and federal courts overseeing injunctions and labor disputes.
The local influenced wage floors, staffing ratios, and benefits that affected policy discussions involving the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Joint Commission, and the New York State Department of Health. Its campaigns contributed to precedent-setting bargaining strategies later studied by scholars at Columbia University, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Brookings Institution. The local’s activities also intersected with national debates on unionization evidenced in cases before the National Labor Relations Board and commentary in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Time magazine.
Prominent figures associated with the local and its milieu included labor organizers and civil rights activists who worked alongside or influenced its direction: Leon J. Davis, Henry Katz, George Hardy, William Lucy, Cesar Chavez, A. Philip Randolph, Walter Reuther, Bayard Rustin, Ella Baker, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Governor Mario Cuomo, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Congressman John Lewis, Mayor Ed Koch, Mayor David Dinkins, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Thurgood Marshall, Philip Randolph, Hubert Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, Dorothy Height, Mary McLeod Bethune, W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Jacob Javits, Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani, Andrew Cuomo, Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Angela Davis, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, and Dolores Huerta.