Despite its support of progressive politicians and causes, the influential labor union, SEIU 1199, fails to uphold its own principles when it comes to investing its funds or advocating for its own employees.
With a membership of 125,000 healthcare workers primarily based in New York, the union aligns itself with high-profile left-wing Democrat politicians like Rep. Alexandria “Tax the Rich” Ocasio-Cortez and state Sen. Michael Gianaris.
SEIU 1199 played a significant role in Bill de Blasio’s mayoral election and endorsed far-left candidate Maya Wiley in 2021. The union consistently supports the most left-leaning viable candidate in any given race.
However, despite calls for more diverse asset management, 1199 prioritizes substantial returns on its multibillion-dollar pension funds through partnerships with renowned Wall Street firms, hedge funds, and private equity groups.
“They have very little invested with minority-run investment funds,” remarked Robert Greene, CEO of the National Association of Investment Companies.
Essentially, 1199 sets aside its ideology when its own interests are at stake, while simultaneously advocating for “social justice” and expecting others to pay for it.
This calculated approach may also explain why the union has been uncooperative with the Ain’t I A Woman Campaign, a grassroots organization fighting for the rights of home care workers, many of whom are women of color and new immigrants.
Notably, this year, SEIU 1199 opposed a City Council bill that sought to eliminate the 24-hour workday for home care workers, who currently only get paid for 13 of those hours.
The union has complex relationships with health insurers, the hospital industry, and other care providers. It often aligns with management to lobby for increased state subsidies and strikes deals like a $30 million arbitration settlement for a class-action suit over lost wages, which resulted in an average payment of $500 for home care workers.
During this year’s state budget negotiations, the Empire Center reported that 1199 supported a plan to effectively nullify a promised minimum wage increase by redirecting the money into a fund that subsidizes employer-sponsored health coverage. This move aimed to provide financial relief to offset the union’s home care worker benefit fund’s significant losses.
SEIU 1199 holds immense power in state and local politics and its chief, George Gresham, even told Gov. Kathy Hochul, “We don’t work for you — you work for us.”
However, it is noteworthy how often “us” refers to Gresham and the union’s leadership interests rather than prioritizing the needs of the members or adhering to 1199’s own ideals.
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