Collective Bargaining Updates with 1199SEIU
The League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes of New York (League) is in contract negotiations with 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (1199), the union that represents more than 85,000 frontline caregivers at hospitals and nursing homes across New York, including nurses, nurse aides, techs, lab workers, clerks, housekeepers, dietary workers, transporters, pharmacists, social workers and many other medical professionals.
The League is the principal negotiator on behalf of its employer members for the multi-employer collective bargaining agreement that covers wages, healthcare benefits, pension benefits and other terms and conditions.
Our goal is to reach an agreement that provides our members’ valued 1199 employees with competitive compensation, benefits, and a safe and supportive work environment that demonstrates our respect for their contributions and works to support their roles in providing world class healthcare to the diverse communities we serve.
The League and 1199 have a history of successfully negotiating new contracts that navigate a number of complex issues unique to the union’s membership and we are optimistic that we will be able to reach a new agreement before the current contract expires on September 30, 2026.
This site will be updated regularly with timely updates about the bargaining process.
Tuesday, June 30, Bargaining Update
Following a nearly 24-hour bargaining session, the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes of New York (League) on Tuesday morning reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement.
Marc Kramer, President of the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, said:
“Healthcare providers are facing unprecedented economic challenges, but this agreement shows what can be achieved when both parties listen to each other and prioritize finding common ground and common cause over conflict and division. We are especially proud to create a new fund for this contract that will provide immigrant workers with financial support to manage legal challenges to immigration status.”
Sunday, June 28, Bargaining Update
Today’s session included incremental movement from both parties on a number of issues, including a series of counter proposals on wages.
Union negotiators opened the day by decreasing their base wage proposal by 0.25% in the third year, which the League countered by increasing its wage proposal by a total of 0.5%, as well as counter proposals on retiree bonuses. Before breaking for the day, the union moved its wage proposal down another 0.25%, to 4.5% in year one, and 4.25% in years two and three.
The League’s proposal on retiree bonuses was for a one-time bonus equivalent to the general wage increase for that year, conditioned on the union dropping its proposal for an annual 1% COLA increase for retirees. The League also shared a counterproposal on artificial intelligence.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Monday, June 29.
Saturday, June 27, Bargaining Update
The all-day session was highlighted by moves on wage proposals from both parties and a novel new League proposal to provide legal support to 1199 employees who face potential challenges to their immigration status.
To address the unprecedented challenge that healthcare workers are facing, League negotiators proposed a new $2 million fund to provide immigrant workers with legal support to manage challenges to immigration status. Like other benefit funds, it would be jointly managed by the League and 1199, who would each appoint trustees to administer the funds. The 1199 bargaining team enthusiastically accepted this proposal and said they looked forward to partnership on this new fund.
There was significant movement from both parties to move toward one another on their wage increase proposals, with each side making a pair of counterproposals over the course of several sessions throughout the day. The League’s current proposal would increase wages as follows:
- 3% increase on base wages effective, October 1, 2026
- 3.25% increase on base wages effective, October 1, 2027
- 3.25% increase on base wages in the third year, split into a 1.25% increase on base wages effective, October 1, 2028, and a 2% increase on base wages effective, April 1, 2029
The parties also reached a pair of new tentative agreements, including on the League’s benefits proposal to increase the childcare fund by $15 million over three years, and on the League’s counter proposal on job protection status, proposing that 1199 employees with 10 years of service as of January 1, 2027, receive full protection status, was a substantial financial obligation from League employers.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Sunday, June 28.
Friday, June 26, Bargaining Update
During today’s bargaining session at the main table, League negotiators reiterated their commitment to negotiating an agreement that is fair, reasonable and responsible, but expressed concern that with only a few days remaining on the parties preferred timeline to reach a new agreement no meaningful progress is being made on the core economic proposals.
League negotiators said they were disappointed that many of its most consequential proposals were not being fairly recognized by the union, specifically the League’s commitment to maintain 1199 member health and pension benefits that benefit every member of 1199 at considerable cost to League employers.
This evening, League negotiators met with a subgroup of 1199 representing its RN units. The 1199 negotiators opened the session by acknowledging the local bargaining proposal put forward by the League and then covered a number of open issues, many of which had economic elements. League negotiators reiterated that determining the final across the board wage increases would influence bargaining around many of the outstanding proposals. After a break to caucus, 1199 negotiators provided a counterproposal on the RN local bargaining process that the League said they would review and have a response prepared for when the parties reconvened.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Saturday, June 27.
Thursday, June 25, Bargaining Update
League negotiators met this morning with a subgroup of 1199 representing its professional and technical units to discuss the core outstanding issues, including the process to address the outstanding professional and technical issues, and minimum compensation levels for several selected titles.
After caucusing in the morning, the League made significant movement in its counterproposal and agreed to a specific process to resolve these issues through the Contract Interpretation and Policy Committee (CIPC) – a process 1199 negotiators defined as “essential” earlier in the bargaining session. After both parties provided additional feedback, a tentative agreement was reached to resolve these core remaining professional and technical issues.
Later in the night, the parties returned to the main table where League negotiators presented their latest counterproposals on artificial intelligence (AI), as well as immigration and work status issues, and also proposed increasing the childcare fund budget by $5 million annually. In response, 1199 negotiators expressed some disappointment that more progress wasn’t made at the big table tonight, and emphasized that there are only four days remaining to reach an agreement under the parties’ preferred timeline. However, both parties closed by stating that they hoped to build on today’s momentum when bargaining resumes at the main table and with a subgroup of 1199 representing its RN units.
There are scheduled bargaining sessions for Friday, June 26; Saturday, June 27; Sunday, June 28; and Monday, June 29.
Monday, June 22, Bargaining Update
Today’s bargaining session began with negotiators from both sides reiterating their commitment to the bargaining process and working toward an agreement. League negotiators then provided counter proposals on probationary rates, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) and immigration and work status issues, and job protection. After a brief discussion about some of the specifics in the League’s proposals the sides broke for a caucus.
Later in the afternoon, 1199 opened by reiterating that they were not changing their initial wage proposal that included an annual 5% increase on their on base weekly rates, minimum rates and steps during. League negotiators responded by expressing disappointment about the fact there remained a significant gulf between the parties on core economics, which is the biggest hurdle to resolve.
1199 then provided counter proposals on AI, immigration and work status, and several other issues. League negotiators said they would review the current proposals and evaluate their impact on the overall cost of the deal.
This evening, League negotiators met with a subgroup of 1199 representing its RN units and shared its counter proposal on the RN local bargaining process. League negotiators shared that they were in agreement about establishing a process for local bargaining to address economic issues, but emphasized that their current proposal did not include a budget for local bargaining because it is directly tied to the overall economics of a new agreement.
After a caucus, 1199 negotiators expressed appreciation for the League’s proposal to establish a local bargaining process and shared their feedback, including what clarifications they would seek, which would be reflected in the modification they provide. The sides agreed to break for the evening shortly before 9 PM.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, June 25.
Thursday, June 18, Bargaining Update
1199 negotiators began today’s session by making modifications to a proposal about longevity pay, and accepting the League’s counterproposal on workplace safety, on which the parties now have a tentative agreement. 1199 held on their other proposals, including their wage proposal.
The parties then broke for a caucus and ended for the day. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Monday, June 22.
Wednesday, June 17, Bargaining Update
1199 negotiators representing the RN unit began this morning’s session by presenting their amended proposals, which included some movement. This included withdrawing or reducing several of their economic proposals (but not wages), and requesting that certain issues be moved to local bargaining.
The parties met again after a brief caucus. League negotiators responded to some of 1199’s comments on the League’s work rule proposals. The League also made counterproposals to 1199’s proposals on workplace safety, immigration and work authorization, and artificial intelligence. 1199 negotiators requested a caucus to review these responses.
1199 and League negotiators agreed to break for the day following lunch. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, June 18 at noon.
Monday, June 15, Bargaining Update
League negotiators presented a comprehensive economic proposal to 1199 today that included increasing wages and maintaining the union’s generous healthcare and pension benefits at no cost to employees for the next three years. The proposal would add $2.1 billion in new spending on union compensation, including a recurring cost of $1.2 billion per year by the third year of a new agreement. This proposal would increase wages on the following schedule:
- 2.5% increase on base wages effective, October 1, 2026
- 2.5% increase on base wages effective, October 1, 2027
- 1.25% increase on base wages effective, October 1, 2028, and a 1.25% increase on base wages effective, April 1, 2029
League negotiators explained that this proposal would increase wages alone by 7.7% over the life of the contract, and is financially equivalent to the deal that NYSNA received earlier this year, factoring in specifics related to their collective bargaining agreement and accounting for the delays that were included in NYSNA’s wage increases.
After a caucus, union negotiators said that their units had difficult conversations about the proposals League negotiators shared earlier in the day, but did not provide a counter proposal. Instead, 1199 negotiators reiterated the importance of securing 5% annual increases and maintaining benefits as their top priorities. Notably, the union acknowledged that it would need to prioritize its proposals and make tradeoffs to reach a final agreement. The union then offered to remove its previous proposals for improvements in vacation benefits from the table, which they said was an important proposal to its members.
The League stated that 1199’s response to its significant economic proposal was extremely disappointing and asked for a caucus. The League then advised the union that it was breaking for the day.
Earlier in the day the union also provided feedback on the League’s work rule proposals that were provided on June 11, rejecting seven of the proposals and countering the league’s proposal on time off for cashing checks.
Friday, June 12, Bargaining Update
This morning, League negotiators met with a subgroup of 1199 representing its RN units to provide its initial costing of the RN specific proposals. Employer representatives outlined that these proposals, which addressed a range of RN compensation categories such as shift differentials, per diem rates, experience steps (expanding up to 40 years), on-call pay, in addition to new demands on staffing guidelines and enforcement, would add a minimum of $138 million of total cost increases for League employers over the three years of the contract. League negotiators emphasized that this analysis was not complete, but they wanted to share the current analysis to underscore how detrimental the magnitude of this new spending would be to nursing homes and safety net hospitals in particular, which already face the most difficult financial challenges.
League negotiators highlighted that they had already committed to invest an additional $55 million over the contract to maintain the 1199 RN unit’s industry-leading healthcare benefits, increasing the total annual spend on healthcare to $227 million by the third year of the deal. Employer representatives again made the point that this type of financial commitment will require tradeoffs in other areas to reach an agreement that is fair and sustainable for both sides.
In the afternoon, League negotiators met with a subgroup of 1199 representing its professional and technical units. Similar to the morning session with the RN unit, they opened the session sharing that League employers were committing to maintain healthcare benefits for the entire 1199 bargaining unit, which would increase costs by $800 million over three years – $187 million (23%) of which supports professional and technical employees. Later in its presentation, the League reiterated that next week it would be presenting an overall wage proposal that would include global wage increases, and that the discussions with this subgroup, the RN subgroup, and the entire 1199 bargaining unit are all connected. Every set of bargaining proposals will need to be considered together because there are finite resources available that could not cover all of 1199’s demands and proposals.
Following the financial analysis portion of the presentation, League negotiators acknowledged that 1199 had provided thoughtful proposals around a number of professional and technical employee issues. While the League did not present formal counterproposals, negotiators asked clarifying questions and shared some of its initial responses to 1199’s proposals. One of the issues identified by 1199 was regarding the process for midterm adjustments to wages of certain titles. League negotiators said they believe the current process is already working to the benefit of the 1199 unit, as League employers have adjusted pay on over 470 titles over the last 3 years. 1199 negotiators responded to briefly expand on why these issues were important and after a brief caucus, union negotiators expressed optimism around continuing to work through professional and technical issues at the next bargaining session.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Monday, June 15.
Thursday, June 11, Bargaining Update
At today’s bargaining session, League negotiators stated that employers would put forward its economic offer next week that will propose compensation increases that build on the competitive wages and benefits 1199 workers already receive, and would maintain – with no cuts – the union’s industry leading healthcare benefits and pension, both of which cost billions of dollars annually to maintain.
Management also shared with the union that while the full financial analysis was not complete, initial estimates of the union’s proposals found that they would add at least $4.2 billion in total cost increases for League institutions over the next three years. The League reiterated the need for 1199 to prioritize its proposals and assess what tradeoffs it can accept, particularly as some 1199 subgroups are pushing for larger total compensation increases than the full unit would receive.
League negotiators also responded to 1199’s bargaining proposals one-by-one, providing their rationale for their response on each proposal. League negotiators rejected 1199’s economic proposals and stated it would provide its proposals next week. Later in the session negotiators provided management’s non-economic counter proposals.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Friday, June 12.
Wednesday, June 10, Bargaining Update
Today’s negotiations were between the League and a subgroup of 1199 representing its RN units.
League negotiators opened the session by sharing concerns about the significant and substantial economic implications of the union’s RN specific proposals, and requested that the union make an effort to prioritize its proposals so that the League could evaluate their exorbitant demands alongside the competing demands from the professional and technical unit and the union as a whole.
League negotiators shared that their full financial analysis of the union’s RN proposals was not yet complete, but the initial calculations found that the RN unit was requesting hundreds of millions of dollars in additional labor costs. These extra costs combined with the union’s across the board wage demands would result in around $1 billion in cost increases for the RN unit alone over three years, including a more than 20% wage increase for RN’s just in the first year. This comes at a time when the healthcare industry continues to face unprecedented financial pressure, with several League institutions facing significant challenges.
The League also emphasized the need to reach an agreement that is fair and reasonable for all parties, including every member of the broader 1199 bargaining unit, and that agreeing to all of the RN’s proposals would mean there are less financial resources available for other 1199 members.
1199 negotiators responded by asking the League to take time to caucus and come back with specific responses to each proposal.
After a caucus, League negotiators informed the union that it would attempt to compile answers (given that there are at least 20 separate RN collective bargaining agreements) to each of their proposals for when the sides convene again later in the week, but given the significant overall cost the RN unit would probably not like the responses.
The next bargaining session with the entire 1199 bargaining unit is scheduled for Thursday, June 11, and another session with the 1199 RN and professional and technical units is scheduled for Friday, June 12.
Tuesday, June 9, Bargaining Update
The League and a subgroup of 1199 representing its professional and technical units had a productive conversation to advance issues that were discussed during the previous session resulting in two tentative agreements, one on preceptor pay for professional and technical employees, and another on topics to be discussed by the Professional Practice Committees.
During the morning session, the parties had further discussion regarding the union’s proposal to convert some members from service to technical job categories and establish uniform titles and increased rates for EMS and Pharmacy Tech employees. League negotiators reiterated that all economic proposals would need to have a complete cost assessment and be considered in the context of the union’s broader economic proposals – noting that the total cost of the current asks would add billions of dollars in cost at a time when the healthcare industry is facing generational economic challenges. League negotiators emphasized the need for both parties to determine what tradeoffs may be required regarding the union’s global demands.
Later in the day, the union provided a comprehensive proposal to establish a post-contract ratification process to address a number of proposals that had previously been discussed, including reclassification of service titles, wage scale adjustments, changes to experience steps, and application of physician assistant terms. League negotiators said that they would take time to review the proposal, and come prepared to provide feedback at the next scheduled subgroup meeting.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, for the RN 1199 unit.
Thursday, May 28, Bargaining Update
Today’s negotiations were between the League and a subgroup of 1199 representing its professional and technical units. Union negotiators provided additional detail and context to the Professional and Technical Jobs proposals that were included in 1199’s initial global demands, which included a broader standard for re-openers for rate adjustments, a reclassification process for technical titles, formation of a physician assistant committee, preceptor pay clarification language and establishing uniform titles and increased rates for EMS and Pharmacy Tech employees.
The union also made a new proposal to add documentation time and clinical supervision as one of the issues that can be taken up by the existing Professional Practice Committee.
League negotiators requested a break to caucus and discuss the union’s demands and later returned to the table to ask some follow up questions and comment on a handful of the union’s proposals. League negotiators also requested additional clarifications to better understand the union’s proposals, analyze their potential economic impacts, and determine what tradeoffs may be required regarding the union’s global demands.
League negotiators did say that the previously agreed upon Preceptor Pay clarification language could be incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement, and requested that 1199 provide its redline edits for review. Following another brief break, the sides engaged in further discussion about the rationale for which proposals were brought forward at the table, and established next steps for providing and reviewing additional information.
The next bargaining session is currently scheduled for Thursday, June 11.
Wednesday, May 27, Bargaining Update
Today’s negotiations were between the League and a subgroup of 1199 representing its RN units. In addition to the union’s global demands presented at the initial bargaining session on Thursday, May 21, 1199 requested additional increases in nurse pay for shift differentials, per diem rates, experience steps (up to 40 years), on call pay, as well as new demands on staffing guidelines and enforcement.
League negotiators requested a caucus to review the new proposals and after a break returned to the table to ask a series of clarifying questions of 1199 regarding the union’s proposals. After 1199 provided additional points of clarification, League negotiators shared that it would require more discussion and analysis to assess the impact of the new demands, and what trade-offs would be required from 1199’s other economic proposals.
Both sides agreed to provide additional dates for bargaining to continue to discuss outstanding issues. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 for the professional and technical 1199 unit.
Friday, May 22, Bargaining Update
Today’s bargaining session focused primarily on the League negotiators presenting a summary analysis of 1199’s wages and benefits and outlining the significant economic headwinds facing the healthcare industry, particularly in New York State.
League negotiators noted that over the last 12 years, 1199 wages outpaced the CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) in New York and New Jersey by 17 percent – including 6.4 percent over the last three years alone. While 1199 workers’ salaries have stayed well ahead of inflation, many League member institutions are facing generational financial challenges – including 12 hospitals that require hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid to remain operational, and 9 additional hospitals that are facing persistent negative operating margins and financial distress. These factors present substantial financial obstacles even before the impacts of the “Big Beautiful Bill” are accounted for, which will cost the healthcare industry in New York State at least $8 billion and 35,000 healthcare jobs.
League negotiators also underscored the need to continue to work constructively and make the necessary tradeoffs to resolve differences. They discussed recent settlements in the sector and outlined that this year’s New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) wage increases only applied to base wages, not experience or other differentials, and were provided in conjunction with significant health benefit cost containment measures. The NYSNA strike cost the average striking nurse $20,000 – which will take them more than two years to recoup.
The League’s negotiators stated that there will be difficult issues to work through, but that they are committed to bargaining in good faith to reach an agreement that reflects the extraordinary contributions of 1199’s workers and their value to the League members’ respective institutions.
Both sides are scheduled to next meet on Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday, May 28.
Thursday, May 21, Bargaining Update
Negotiators for the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes of New York (League) attended the first official bargaining session with 1199SEIU (1199), which opened with a comprehensive presentation from 1199 negotiators outlining their list of initial proposals.
The union’s package of proposals touched on every aspect of the collective bargaining agreement including wages, healthcare and pension benefits, and employment. The 1199 proposals included an annual 5% increase on base weekly rates, minimum rates and steps during each year of the proposed new three-year contract, and a number of additional proposals that were likely to have significant financial impacts on the overall cost of the agreement.
League negotiators requested a break to assess the union’s proposals and determine what questions and clarifications they would need to better understand initial demands. The sides reconvened in the afternoon and League negotiators shared an initial set of questions to better understand 1199’s comprehensive proposals and fully evaluate the potential costs and impacts.
After the League’s questions, union negotiators agreed to take a break to consider their initial questions, and then the sides agreed to break for the day and reconvene the following morning.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Friday, May 22, at 11 AM.