Interviews of ten individuals associated with Beth-Israel Hospital include 1199 delegates Marjorie Phillips (dietary clerk), Hilda Joquin (dietary clerk), Edith Garcia (housekeeping worker), Mary Riley (nurse's aide), and Arguilla Ortiz (kitchen worker); hospital workers Jimmy Cormack (orderly), Mrs. Jimmy Cormack (dietary aide), and Cornelius Bill Volk (fireman), Lucille Works (dietary supervisor), and Cecil Sheps (director). Data on personal background include previous employment experience, early union contacts, and ethnic background. The discussion of pre-union working conditions includes the topics of salary levels in the 1950's; the quality of food and management of cafeterias; the labor turnover rate; communication links and chains of command; work scheduling; grievance resolution; the structure and organization of hospital departments; personal relations between supervisors, workers and patients; the exploitation of workers; the system of determining raises; seniority; choosing supervisors; and job security. Post-union working conditions are also reviewed. Included are the influence of the Permanent Administrative Committee (PAC) on the administration of labor-management relations; dues collection; grievance procedure; restrictions on union activity during hours of work and on hospital premises; the reinstatement of strikers; the loss of family atmosphere; the impact of technological changes; union delegate training; delegate election; union benefits; social activities; training and upgrading; and the effects of unionization on wages, working conditions, and patient care. The conduct of the organizing campaign and strike at Beth-Israel are discussed at length. Included are the establishment of organizing committees in various hospital departments; arrests of strikers; fights between strikers and scabs; picketing; the use of volunteers and the maintenance of patient care during the strike; the conduct of elections, organizing meetings, and demonstrations; the adjustment of the families of strikers to the hardships caused by the strike and family participation in strike activities; the development of leadership among hospital workers; scab activities in the hospital and strikers' response; strike provisions; strike and picketing strategies; community and clergy support for the strike; and the organizing activities of Beth-Israel workers. Characteristics and attitudes of workers discussed include identification with work assignments; job satisfaction; self-confidence; identification with the labor movement; low wages and working conditions; the support of strikers by workers at other hospitals; participation in lobbying activities in Albany; the union's effect on worker morale and productivity; resistance to unionization and strike support as a function of worker's job category and department; racial composition and level of support for the union as related to hospital department; worker solidarity; a comparison of older and newer workers; the reliance upon loans, welfare, and family support to compensate for low wages; and the fear of job loss. 1199 staff and officers as leaders and organizers are also discussed. Other issues discussed include hospital administration, boards of trustees and supervisors; the influence of the Board of Trustees on the hospital administration; public relations; discrimination against workers for union activity; attitudes and behavior of supervisors during the strike; attempts to pacify workers; strikebreaking and attempts to persuade strikers to return to work; Personnel Department policies on recruitment, training and upgrading, performance standards, and pensions; the ethnic composition of the Board of Trustees; the influence of the Henry Street Settlement on hospital administration; the social, cultural, and economic composition of the hospital's neighborhood; the influence of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and of the National Conference of Catholic Charities on the hospital board, and their role in the community; and the hospital administration's contacts with black and Puerto Rican community leaders.
