About 1199 SEIU UHWE
With over 450,000 members throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, and Washington, DC, 1199SEIU is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in the nation. Since our founding in 1932, our mission has been to stand up for quality healthcare, good jobs and social justice for all. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called 1199 his favorite union and referred to us as “the authentic conscience of the labor movement." Over the years 1199 has won some of the highest standards for healthcare workers in the country, including good wages and benefits, safe staffing, paid time off, secure retirement, model childcare and education benefits and a real voice work in the workplace. Our members are highly politically engaged and active, so we have the strength to advocate with government and elected officials for our patients, families and communities. We are affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which has over 2 million members and is the largest labor union in North America.

Responsibilities

• Developing and executing both the New York region and national press strategies for the organization.
• Asserting the union’s role as a leading national voice for quality healthcare and good jobs.
• Developing short- and long-term press outreach plans.
• Working with communications staff in our other regions to optimize and coordinate our press strategies.
• Working with leaders and organizers to fulfill their press outreach needs around campaigns and union-wide mobilizations.
• Developing messaging and talking points on specific issues and for the organization as a whole.
• Training leaders, members, and staff to be effective media spokespeople.
• Developing, maintaining, and expanding the union’s media database.
• Writing and distributing press releases, op-eds and letters to the editor and making pitch calls.
• Forming strong working relationships with key reporters and editors.
• Ensuring the union and our issues have a strategic, consistent, and powerful presence in the media.
• Beyond press relations, taking responsibility for coordinating whole communications campaigns, including planning and budgeting, writing literature and ads, etc.

Requirements

• Excellent ability to work closely with a team, accommodate requests from team members, and assimilate input from multiple sources.
• Excellent inter-personal skills, a positive, enthusiastic attitude, and a commitment to contribute to a positive work environment.
• An ability and commitment to modeling pro-active leadership behavior and skills.
• The ability, experience, energy and enthusiasm to take responsibility for whole communications campaigns and pro-actively see each component through to a successful conclusion.
• Deep commitment to the labor movement and progressive causes.
• Excellent visual, written and verbal communications skills.
• BA or higher.
• At least 5 years experience working in communications and press relations for progressive Political campaigns, non-profit organizations or unions.
• Proficiency in Word and Excel and ability to learn media database technology required.
• Experience with social media tools and campaigns.
• Must thrive in an environment with tight deadlines, changing priorities, high-pressure and irregular hours.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by

persons assigned to this title. They do not include all job duties performed by employees in the title and

every position does not necessarily require the same duties.

All interested persons meeting the minimum qualifications are encouraged to submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@1199.org

1199/SEIU is an equal opportunity employer.