(ROCHESTER, NEW YORK) - You Know When They’re On a Picket Line Fighting for Fair Wages and Benefits.  You Hear Their Prominent Voices at Rallies Supporting the Most Critical Social Justice Issues of Our Times.  And You Know When They’re Putting Their Full Force and Effort Into Electing a Labor-Friendly Candidate.

But What Most People Don’t Know is That 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Healthcare Workers East - the Nation’s Largest Health Care Workers Union, Also Offers a Number of Critical Programs That Help Families Who are Struggling to Improve Their Economic Situations.  

In Addition to a Home Mortgage Program and a Citizenship Program, 1199 SEIU Offers a Tax Assistance Program to its Members.  The Program Helps Members Utilize the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for Low and Moderate Income Workers.  Last Year, EITC Programs Run by 1199 SEIU and the 1199 SEIU Benefit Fund Garnered Low-Wage Workers More Than $15 Million in Refunds.

Among Those Health Care Worker Members is Devery Reid-Holmes, a Patient Care Technician at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.  Last Fall, Reid-Holmes Purchased a Home Using Her 2013 Tax Refund - Which Totaled More Than $10,000 - as a Down Payment: “About Five or Six Years Ago I Found Out 1199 SEIU Could Help Me and ‘Not Charge a Penny.’  And in October of Last Year, Which is My Grandmother’s Birthday, I Closed On the House That I Share With My Daughter, Imani, Who’s Twelve and My Son, Daniel, Who’s Three.”

The EITC, Initially Enacted in 1975 as the EIC, Has Expanded Over the Years.  Today it’s One of the Nation’s Most Successful Anti-Poverty Programs, With Research Showing Families Use it to Pay for Basic Necessities and for Major Expenses Like Home Repair, Vehicle Maintenance and Work-Related Education and Training Programs.

1199SEIU Launched its EITC Program 10 Years Ago, Netting Members a Total of $61,000 in Refunds.  Last Year, Syracuse Region 1199 SEIUers Alone Received More Than $3 Million in Refunds.  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is Studying the Syracuse Program as a Model for Implementation Elsewhere.

“I Tell People to Take Advantage of All Our Unions Programs,” Reid-Holmes said. “I’ve Used the Education Funds to Finish My LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) Training and I’m Going to Become an RN (Registered Nurse).  Getting the EITC Refund Made a ‘Huge Difference’ for Me and My Family.”

1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East - Whose Mission is to Achieve Quality Care and Good Jobs for All - Represents More Than 400,000 Nurses and Caregivers Across the States of Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and in Washington, D.C.