Secretary-Treasurer Milly Silva came to 1199 twenty-five years ago as a homecare organizer, when 32BJ homecare workers merged into 1199. She led a New Organizing team to organize thousands more homecare workers across NY. Her successes led to her becoming Division Director for NJ and NY nursing homes, where she bargained groundbreaking contracts.
Her strongest achievements include winning a best-in-the-nation staffing ratio law for CNAs in NJ, winning NY nursing home reform, and leading tens of thousands of members in the Greater, Group and League negotiations to historic contract wins and wage gains. Since 2022, she has served as our Secretary-Treasurer and ensured our Union is in financial and legal compliance. Milly learned the value of hard work from her mother, a home health aide. She is deeply passionate about working as part of a team to build member power.
President George Gresham is one of the most respected, powerful, and effective labor leaders in the nation. Starting as a delegate in the housekeeping department at Presbyterian Hospital, he has risen through every rank of our Union because of his unwavering work ethic and commitment to members. George is ranked as the #1 most influential labor leader and has delivered victories for members in every region, time and again. He is the chief negotiator for our gold-standard League contract, where most recently he secured for members the highest wage increases we’ve seen in over 30 years, protected all of our benefits, and forced employers to recognize the holiday of Juneteenth for the first time. As someone who grew up in the South under segregation, George’s life story has been about perseverance and fighting oppression in all forms.
Our Team
