Health care union president ousted in upset election
NEW YORK — Longtime labor leader George Gresham was toppled by his former lieutenants in a contentious race to lead the nation's largest health care union.
Gresham, who became president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East in 2007, lost his reelection bid by a resounding margin to challenger Yvonne Armstrong, who leads the union's long-term care division, according to data reviewed by POLITICO.
Gresham's defeat ushers in a new chapter for the union, which represents 450,000 health care workers across five East Coast states and was once a powerhouse in New York politics.
It is very rare for union heads to lose internal elections in New York, a state in which labor holds outsize power in local politics. 1199SEIU helped elevate Bill de Blasio to the mayoralty when he was lagging in the polls 12 years ago, and it recently endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor.
Armstrong and her second-in-command, Veronica Turner-Biggs, will take the reins as the organized labor movement and the health care industry contend with the Trump administration's attacks on collective bargaining rights and Congressional Republicans' expected Medicaid cuts.
Armstrong and Turner-Biggs, who ran as the Members First Unity Slate, will also preside over an internal reckoning. The union is conducting an independent review of Gresham's spending, after a nine-month POLITICO investigation revealed that he had long used members' dues money to
benefit himself, his family and political allies
. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce subsequently
asked the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate
.
'Because of your courage—your heart, your hustle, your belief—we now have the chance to lead our union into a new chapter: one rooted in transparency, unity, and real member power,' the Members First Unity slate wrote in an Instagram post
announcing the outcome
.
In a
Facebook post
published early Sunday by Gresham's 1 Union 1 Future slate, he congratulated the victorious candidates and recalled his path from rank-and-file member in housekeeping at New York-Presbyterian Hospital to union president.
'No matter who you voted for, at the end of the day we are all part of our precious 1199 family, and I know that we share the same deep love for our union and the labor movement,' Gresham wrote in the statement. 'It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your President for the past 17 years.'
'Our solidarity as 1199 members is today more important than ever,' he added. 'We have major work cut out for us in the coming weeks and months to fight back against federal cuts to Medicaid, to negotiate the strongest contracts, and to defend the most vulnerable in our communities.'
The union said early Sunday that official results from the election, which was conducted under the supervision of American Arbitration Association, will be posted shortly.
Gresham's term as president ends in June.
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