George Gresham, longtime 1199SEIU health care workers union leader, dies at 71

George Gresham, the former longtime president of the 1199 Service Employees International Union has died, officials said. He was 71.

Gresham led SEIU — one of New York’s largest unions, mostly representing health care workers — from 2007 to 2025. He died Friday after battling a long illness, SEIU said.

Beyond New York, 1199SEIU is also the nation’s largest health care workers union.

Posting on X, Mayor Mamdani praised Gresham as “a giant of New York’s labor movement and a relentless champion for working people. From the hospital floor to the presidency of 1199SEIU, he dedicated his life to fighting for the dignity, safety and economic security of health care workers and their families,” he said.

Mamdani announced that on Saturday the Big Apple would lower flags to half-mast at all municipal buildings to honor Gresham.

“From his start as a hospital worker to leading 1199SEIU, George Gresham was a legendary labor leader who never stopped fighting for working people, communities of color, and the dignity every New Yorker deserves,” Governor Hochul said in a statement. “His voice helped shape New York’s labor movement and strengthen the rights of health care workers across our state.”

Gresham, who was born in Virginia and later moved to New York City, started out as a housekeeper at Columbia Presbyterian hospital before eventually rising to the president of the union.

During his tenure leading SEIU, he advocated for fair wages, affordable health benefits, retirement benefits, education benefits, childcare and safe staffing for health care workers. He was also revered as a civil rights activist pushing for quality healthcare, women’s rights, living wages, racial and immigrant justice, and gender and LGBTQ equality.

“Under George’s visionary leadership, 1199SEIU was a powerhouse for progressive change,” SEIU said in a statement. “He understood that the fight for economic justice is inseparable from the fight for racial, immigrant and social justice. He didn’t just win industry-leading contracts; he won dignity, respect and a voice for over 450,000 healthcare workers across the East Coast.”