Maine: Day Care Union Fight Continues
Click here to read AWF's press release
According to the SunJournal.com:
AUBURN - About 2,200 home-based child-care providers will decide this month whether to unionize and join the Maine State Employees Association.
Proponents say a union will give providers a needed voice in state rules regarding child care.
"It's a great way to bring family child-care providers together," said Ruth Burke, owner of Tweetie's Tot Care in Auburn.
But opponents say a union will do nothing more than jack up prices and make quality day care unaffordable.
"This hurts parents and children," said Brian Johnson, policy director for the Alliance for Worker Freedom, an anti-union group based in Washington, D.C.
Since 2005, at least 10 states have allowed child-care providers to unionize. Three of those states, Illinois, Oregon and Washington, have approved union contracts.
The Washington-based Service Employees International Union, which is affiliated with the Maine State Employees Association, brought up the issue with Maine child-care providers last year. A union would unite home-based providers, many of whom receive state money for caring for low-income children and all of whom are regulated by the state.
"Sometimes the state rules don't make practical sense," said Avril Smith, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union-Maine State Employees Association. "(With a union), the state would have to sit down with providers and talk about these issues. They would have a seat at the table."
As an example, Burke points to recent changes Maine made in the way it determines day-care quality.
High-quality centers get more state money and state-subsidized parents can take a larger tax break if they send their children to those high quality centers. The state recently changed its "high quality" criteria and upped the standard. Burke believes some providers have gone through extensive training and inspections to be considered high quality but will lose that status if they don't do more now...click to continue.
