From New Jersey to New York’s Capital Region, 1199SEIU Delegates are Sworn into Office

Last week, 1199SEIU activists from Southern New Jersey to New York’s Mohawk Valley were sworn in as Union Delegates by President George Gresham and Secretary-Treasurer Maria Castaneda. They were elected at their workplaces in the spring by their 1199 SEIU co-workers and took their oaths at Delegate Assemblies in Iselin, New Jersey on July 14th and in Albany, New York on July 15th.

The Delegates raised their hands as President Gresham led them in pledging the 1199SEIU Delegate Oath. Both Gresham and Castaneda praised them for taking leadership roles in the union and said that there is much to be done. “You are the leaders. You are the representatives,” Gresham said. “You lead in keeping the Union strong.”

In New Jersey, newly-elected Delegate Ann-Marie Mastej, a certified nursing assistant from Crystal Lake Nursing Home in Bayville for 18 years, said she takes her new responsibility seriously. “It is critical that all my co-workers have the correct information about our contract and know what we can do if workers’ rights are violated,” she said. “I think the more everyone understands what is in their contract, the more powerful we will feel and the more powerful we will be.”

Joseph Stratford, a painter at Lutheran Care Center in Poughkeepsie told the Delegate Assembly in Albany, “As a delegate I want to bring my co-workers together and show what wearing purple stands for. We are stronger together in our shops and we are stronger together when we all support each other, throughout the union.”

Gresham spoke of the upcoming rally in Washington D.C. on October 2 – “10-2-10” – which is expected to be a historic mobilization of working people. He urged all 1199SEIU delegates to participate and to spread the word to co-workers, friends and family. “We will be marching for the change we voted for: jobs for all, adequate funding to ensure quality health care, a decent education for all, an economy that works for everyone, a renewable energy policy, and for civil, labor, immigrant and women’s rights,” he said. “As healthcare workers, we want bring everyone together and stand up for our country’s future!”