Kaleida Health Workers to Picket

1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Upstate New York Division                              
Service Employees International Union
974 Kenmore Avenue                     
Buffalo, New York  14216
Telephone:      (716)-982-0540
Fax:            (716)-876-0930
Website:        www.1199seiu.org


MEDIA RELEASE           SEPTEMBER 19, 2008


KALEIDA HEALTH WORKERS TO PICKET

CONTRACT TALKS STALL OVER PENSION ISSUES

        (Buffalo) - Three thousand Kaleida Health employees, members of
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, plan to picket due to a lack of
progress in contract negotiations.  The talks stalled one month ago over
the issue of retirement benefits.  1199 SEIU members at Kaleida are
currently covered by four different retirement plans.

        "We've studied Kaleida's pension plans and found them to be
inadequate." said George Kennedy, the union's executive vice-president and
chief negotiator.  "There is also a great deal of inequity in the system.
In some cases, employees in the same building or in the same job title will
get very different benefits."

        "In the years since the mergers that created Kaleida, we have
corrected significant wage and benefit disparities." said Patricia
McCarthy, RN, a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of
Women's and Children's Hospital of Buffalo.  "But Kaleida is unwilling to
fulfill its promise of fair retirement benefits for all employees
throughout the system.

        Union officials notified Kaleida that employees intend to picket
Kaleida's offices at the Larkin Building, 600 Exchange Street, the site of
its human resources and billing departments on September 30.

        Negotiations opened on March 3, 2008.  Contracts covering all
twelve 1199 SEIU bargaining units within Kaleida Health expired on May 31.

        1199 SEIU members in Kaleida work at Women and Children's Hospital
of Buffalo, Buffalo General Hospital, Millard Fillmore Gates Circle and
Suburban Hospitals, and in many outpatient facilities and offices located
throughout Erie County.  They also provide health services for
approximately fifty public schools in Buffalo.  They work as registered
nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, medical
technologists and technicians, pharmacists, administrative, business office
clerical, service, and maintenance employees.

        For further information, please contact:  Franchelle Hart at (716)
289-1280, or Bruce Popper at (585) 746-0478.