1199: The National Health Care Workers' Union
Encyclopedia
1199: The National Health Care Workers' Union (originally known as the Drug, Hospital, and Health Care Employees Union-District 1199) was a labor union originally founded by Leon J. Davis
Leon J. Davis
Leon J. Davis, Polish-born U.S. labor leader, November 26, 1906, Obecz, Russian Empire - September 14, 1992, New Hyde Park, New York.At the age of 15 he settled with his Russian-speaking family in Hartford, Connecticut where he attended public schools and learned English. In 1927 his family moved...

 for pharmacists in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in 1932. The union organized all workers in drug stores on an industrial
Industrial unionism
Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union—regardless of skill or trade—thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in bargaining and in strike situations...

 basis, including pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...

s, clerks, and soda jerk
Soda jerk
A soda jerk was a person — typically a youth — who operated the soda fountain in a drugstore, often for the purpose of preparing and serving ice cream soda. This was made by putting flavored syrup into a specially designed tall glass, adding carbonated water and, finally, one or two scoops of ice...

s. The union led pioneering pickets and strikes against racial segregation and racially discriminatory hiring in Harlem and elsewhere in New York City during the 1930s.

Since 1199 was a "left-led" union, its leadership was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...

 in 1948 for Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

 "infiltration." 1199 was a tiny local at the time, however, and during the expulsions of large left-led unions from the CIO
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...

 in the 1940s, 1199 as a local eventually found shelter under the auspices of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is a labor union in the United States and Canada that is a semi-autonomous division of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Change to Win Federation...

. In the late 1950s, the drugstore-based union launched large-scale organizing drives at voluntary hospitals in New York, mobilizing a heavily African-American and Puerto Rican-American workforce in the first flush of the postwar Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...

 famously described 1199 as "my favorite union" . Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs...

 became the honorary chair of 1199's organizing campaigns as it sought to expand outside of New York City beginning the late 1960s.

The union's first campaign outside of New York City was the formation of District 1199B in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

 in 1969. The union led a strike there that never led to a contract, but had success in creating new 1199 districts in Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...

, Philadelphia (and later other parts of Pennsylvania
SEIU District 1199P
SEIU District 1199P is the former name of a health care workers local union of the Service Employees International Union in Pennsylvania. It is now called SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. It has a membership of 20,000....

), Connecticut, Rhode Island
SEIU Local 1199NE
The SEIU Local 1199NE is a local union of the Service Employees International Union in the United States. It represents 20,000 health care workers in the New England area....

, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio
SEIU 1199 WKO
SEIU 1199 WKO is a local of the Service Employees International Union, SEIU representing Health Care and Social Service Workers in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. Before merging with SEIU 1199 WKO was part of 1199: The National Health Care Workers' Union....

, and elsewhere.

Serious faction fights broke out within the flagship New York local and among other 1199 locals after the retirement of the union's original leadership. 1199 eventually left the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is a labor union in the United States and Canada that is a semi-autonomous division of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Change to Win Federation...

 to form a short-lived National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees during the 1980s, but its constituent locals soon thereafter sought mergers with other unions.

Most 1199 locals joined the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...

, with 1199C in Philadelphia being the largest 1199 local to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is the second- or third-largest labor union in the United States and one of the fastest-growing, representing over 1.4 million employees, primarily in local and state government and in the health care industry. AFSCME is part of the...

. The large flagship New York local remained independent until joining SEIU in 1998. Dennis Rivera
Dennis Rivera
Dennis Alexis Rivera Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is one half of the first Undisputed Tag Team Champions in Puerto Rico, being recognized by both major promotions, the International Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Council, as champions during a single...

led the union for many years.

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