Grace Bogdanove, 1199 SEIU Healthcare Workers East VP For WNY Nursing Homes, Elected President Of The Buffalo AFL-CIO Labor Council - Becomes Second Woman To Lead the Council, Succeeding Now WNYALF President Denise Abbott
WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Grace Bogdanove (pictured above, on the right) - 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East Vice President for WNY Nursing Homes, has been elected the new President of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, becoming only the second Woman to head the Buffalo Labor Council. Bogdanove succeeds Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Denise Abbott (on the left), who was the first Woman President of the Buffalo Council. (WNYLaborToday.com Photo)
(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Grace Bogdanove, who serves as 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East Vice President for Western New York’s Nursing Homes, has been unanimously elected President of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council - becoming the second Woman to lead the Council, succeeding recently-elected Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Denise Abbott, who served as Buffalo Labor Council President for more than five years.
“It’s an ‘opportunity for me to give back’ to the Labor Community,” Bogdanove, 29, told WNYLaborToday.com after her swearing-in ceremony that was held last week during the Labor Council’s monthly meeting. “Democracy is ‘under attack like never before’ by the current (Trump) Administration and - ‘in great part, it is up to the Labor Movement to protect our Democracy.’ I’m ‘excited’ to get with our (Union) Affiliates, Union Members and Staff ‘in order to develop a greater understanding (of how the Union Movement can) fight back.’”
The Buffalo AFL-CIO Council represents 90,000 Workers through its Affiliated Member Unions.
Abbott had been President of the Buffalo Council since January 2020 and was the first Female President of the Buffalo Labor Council since its official beginnings back in 1957.
She took over the reins of the WNYALF in July (2025) and becoming, in the process, the first female President of the Western New York Labor Federation.
Abbott - who’s been a Communications Workers of America (CWA) Member for the past 21 years, has served as Health and Safety Director for CWA Local 1168 since 2013 and works as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the Emergency Room at North Tonawanda’s DeGraff Memorial Hospital.
The WNYALF serves as an umbrella Labor Organization that oversees five Central Labor Councils: Buffalo; Cattaraugus/Allegany Dunkirk; Jamestown; and Niagara/Orleans. Its Affiliated Public and Private Unions, as well as those within the Building Trades, combine to represent 145,000 Members across the eight-county Western New York Region.
Abbott told WNYLaborToday.com: “I am ‘really proud’ of Grace taking over the role. She’s a ‘perfect fit.’ ‘She’s an incredible’ Labor Leader ‘and will clearly look to build up’ the Council. She has ‘many strengths’ - from organizing to ‘talking to people and bringing them together.’ She is ‘incredibly kind, smart and passionate’ about the Labor Movement ‘and fighting for Working People.’ I’m ‘excited (about her being so young - and) about her attracting more young people’ (into the Council). ‘She’ll be bringing a lot of her (1199 SEIU) friends with her.’ And, I am ‘incredibly grateful for the door being opened for Women to come through - and it’s been Men doing that.’ There are ‘so many wonderful Men in the Labor Movement and I am really grateful for them doing that.’”
Bogdanove - who was appointed to her latest SEIU position back in April 2021, has been honored in the past as one of the Top 40 Young Labor Leaders in City & State’s Labor 40 Under 40 list, which highlights rising stars in Organized Labor across the State of New York.
She had moved back to Buffalo a few years ago from North Country where she was 1199 SEIU Vice President, representing both Hospital and Nursing Home Workers.
1199 SEIU is the largest Health Care Workers Union in the country, representing more than 350,000 Nursing Home, Home Care and Hospital Workers. The Upstate/Western New York Division has nearly 23,000 Members with offices in Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester and Governor.
Bogdanove (Pictured Below/WNYLaborToday.com File Photo) - who’d interned with the WNYALF after receiving a Labor Degree from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations several years ago, said she was “honored” to succeed Abbott as the second Female President of the Buffalo Labor Council - even though she admits she has “big shoes to fill.”
Bogdanove told WNYLaborToday.com she is “excited” to work with the Council’s many Affiliated Unions in the Public and Private Sectors, as well as those in the Building Trades: “We are going to start monthly education and training sessions, including those involving dealing with grievance charges and running organizing campaigns, as well as addressing legislation and ‘how it has affected different’ Unions. We’ll build a program out and address the way we can ‘effectively mobilize and better support our entire’ community.”
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