SEIU Upstate and Downstate Merge into One Union

WRVO

Published November 25, 2002 at 3:50 PM EST

By Elizabeth Christensen

New York State – New York's Service Employees International Union is now the largest labor local in the country.

SEIU 1199 Upstate and Downstate merged on Friday after a vote by members.

1199 Spokesman Marshall Blake says the union will give upstate health care workers more bargaining power.

He says the union will also have more collective bargaining power and political weight.

CLICK on the icon above to hear more comments from Marshall Blake of SEIU 1199.

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