Obituary of Joyce Ann Moscato

Joyce Moscato, Innovative Strategist for Union Movement, Dies at 60 Joyce Moscato, an innovative strategist who pioneered new ways for working Americans to organize and advocate for better jobs and stronger communities, died on January 17 in Herndon, Va. She was 60. A sharp-minded thinker and keen planner, Moscato spent most of her career with the Service Employees International Union in the 1980s, working alongside healthcare workers and other people doing service and care work to develop campaigns aimed at raising wages and the quality of jobs. After starting at SEIU as a researcher, Moscato shifted into a new role in communications. In the 1990s, as the healthcare industry went through rapid change and decision-making shifted from local hospitals to larger corporate hospital systems and insurance corporations, Moscato supported nurses and other healthcare professionals as they joined together to speak out on their concerns about threats to the quality of patient care to the wider public. In 2001, Moscato helped nurses provide a powerful visual demonstration of the effects of a chronic shortage of registered nurses on hospital care. Nurses lined up thousands of pairs of empty nursing shoes on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington, and held signs asking “Who Will Fill These Shoes?” The action received unprecedented press coverage, and the Stand for Patients campaign helped maintain momentum for SEIU healthcare workers’ long-term fight to make quality healthcare more affordable and accessible for working families. Moscato’s thinking helped open SEIU’s doors to more RNs by creating campaigns based on nurses’ professional values and commitment to building constructive relationships with hospital administrators. She went on to share in developing campaigns that allowed thousands of healthcare workers across a series of for-profit and Catholic-affiliated hospital systems unite together in SEIU. In 2011, with millions of working Americans growing frustrated in the face of stagnant wage growth and a shortage of family-sustaining jobs, Moscato was a key strategist for SEIU’s Fight for a Fair Economy campaign to build wider networks linking SEIU members with community allies to call for change to make life better for all Americans, not just the richest 1%. The campaign gained momentum in the run-up to the 2012 elections, joining forces with the Occupy movement to organize massive demonstrations on Capitol Hill and at the Republican Convention in Tampa in 2012. In one coordinated national day of action, thousands of working people demonstrated on major bridges to amplify their call for investment in basic infrastructure in create more jobs and improve the quality of life in cities around the country. Moscato completed her career at SEIU as one of the early planners of a campaign that evolved into the Fight for $15 movement, which mobilized thousands of working people to go on strike for a new $15 wage floor and the right to organize unions. In the wake of the campaign, more than 19 million working Americans have won raises totaling nearly $62 billion. Joyce is survived by her husband ‘Captain’ Dave Wilbar, siblings Jerry and Joan, parents Walter and Annette Kowalski, and joins her brothers John and Joe in God’s embrace. Visitation will be Monday, January 23rd at Adams-Green Funeral Home in Herndon, VA from 5-8pm. Mass will be on Tuesday, January 24th at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Reston, VA at 11am.