Thursday, August 03, 2006
If you live in Minnesota (or one of several other states) you may have noticed that there seems to be a tremendous amount of activity regarding unions trying to organize family child care providers. I am often asked what my opinion is concerning unions... I think that I will reserve an opinion until I have had time to do more research, but I have some initial impressions and can see both positive and negative points to a union.
Some initial thoughts that come to mind...
- Family child care providers are self-employed business owners and as such really don;t have an employer to bargain with. (Yes, I know that unions are considering providers as state employees due to state licensing or reimbursement program, but I think this is somewhat of a stretch.)
- Unions are trying for a unified voice for family child care providers, but as independent business owners, providers seldom are able to come to a unified position.
- Some providers are considering paying union dues to belong to a professional group, but have been unwilling to pay membership dues to a professional organization that has tried to become a unified voice for the profession.
- Unlike a volunteer organization, unions are a business and though they may have your interests in mind, they need to be run like a business.
- But, perhaps a union is necessary to organize providers and push the profession towards common goals.
I believe that the union issue is going to continue to be a hot topic and I encourage you to get all the facts before you make any decisions for or against unions for family child care providers.
In the United States, labor unions have, since the 1930's, become associated with organizations of manufacturing workers. Unions, however, can and have taken a variety of forms, bringing many different types of workers together under different industry contexts, and operating under labels such as professional unions, occupational unions, craft unions and amalgamated craft unions as well as "industrial" unions.1 While this variety is evidence of the ability of unions to adapt to new situations, past union forms have one feature in common that does not fit family child care: unions organize workers
to bargain with management over the terms of their employment relationship, most often their wages, hours and working conditions.Family child care providers are selfemployed business owners who contract directly with clients and set the terms and conditions for the enrollment of children in their child care homes, including the program's tuition, fees and operating hours. As a small business owner, a provider has no employer with whom she2, or a union, can bargain for a salary increase or additional benefits; she sets her own salary, usually by paying all her other business expenses first and keeping whatever is left over as her wages. If she needs a salary increase or better benefits, she has two choices. She can increase her gross income, either by raising the tuition and fees she charges parents or by finding alternative funding sources like the Child and Adult Care Food Program or grants for some of her program expenses, or she can decrease her program expenses.
Many providers are unable to raise rates or reduce expenses enough to make a significant improvement in their own salary and benefits. Therefore, to increase wages and benefits for family child care providers, a new organizing model must be created to access additional public and private resources to fund quality family child care. As the slogan of the Worthy Wage Campaign has reminded us for years, "Parents can't afford to pay, providers can't afford to stay, we have to find a better way!"
