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Unions strike agreement on organizing child-care providers
By Michael Moore, St. Paul Union Advocate editor

ST. PAUL - Two major unions have reached agreement on plans for organizing child care providers, among the lowest-paid workers in Minnesota.

Organizers from AFSCME and SEIU have spent months fanning out across the state, knocking on doors and encouraging home-based child-care providers to join their unions. In late September an arbitrator issued a jurisdictional ruling that resolved any confusion over which union providers should join.

The arbitrator accepted a proposal that, roughly speaking, divided the state in half. The agreement gives Child Care Providers Together/ AFSCME jurisdiction to organize providers in the northern half of the state and SEIU Kids First jurisdiction to organize in the southern half.

In the east-metro area, SEIU gained jurisdiction in Anoka and Dakota counties. AFSCME gained jurisdiction in Ramsey, Washington and Chisago counties.

"The unions came to a decision together," said Kristin Beckmann, acting director of the SEIU state council. "Now we're working together to do the best by child-care providers and the kids and families they serve."

Both unions hope the agreement will result not only in greater representation for child-care workers, but in increased clout with lawmakers in St. Paul as well.

"With Child Care Providers Together and Kids First joining forces, providers will have a united voice at the capitol," said Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5. "Our common goal is affordable, quality child care for working families."

The state has not moved toward that goal in recent legislative sessions, providers say. Instead, $140 million in child-care budget cuts have resulted in lower wages and concerns about quality.

Providers in Minnesota earn an average of $2.83 an hour per child. Without greater state investment in the child-care system, that average is unlikely to go up.

"Higher pay for providers will not come at the expense of parents," said Lisa Thompson, a child care provider and president of Ramsey County Child Care Providers Together, which already has struck a partnership with Ramsey County commissioners to lobby together during future legislative sessions. "Parents can't afford to pay more. Instead, the state needs to invest in kids by increasing subsidies for quality early care and education."

Minnesota's waiting list for child care assistance grew to almost 5,000 families before the legislature, led by DFL Sen. John Hottinger, took action last spring. Parents who cannot afford child care risk leaving the workforce to take care of children at home.

"People can't afford to pay $300 per week (for child care)," Thompson said. "In order for quality childcare to be available for everyone, it needs to be in some way, shape or form subsidized by the state. Otherwise, what it does is make quality child care available only for the rich."

Not only would greater state investment help parents keep their jobs, proponents say it would be a proven investment in the state's future, too. In a study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, every dollar spent on early childhood education yielded $13 in public benefits.

"All the research points to how important the first five years of a child's life are, but our state doesn't start much of its investment in our children until age 5," Thompson said. "A lot of the groundwork is already done by then in terms of brain development."

For information about joining Child Care Providers Together, call 651-287-0581 or visit www.afscmemn.org. For information about joining Kids First, visit www.seiumn.org or call 651.203.0401.

Reprinted from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@stpaulunions.org

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 6:05 PM