The governor’s authorization means 4,300 providers will have 14 days to vote on whether they want a union, and their mail ballots will be counted before the end of the year. If successful, providers will be able to negotiate with the state over standards, funding, quality, and other issues that affect their livelihoods and the care they provide.
AFSCME Council 5’s Child Care Providers Together expects to win an election among 2,300 providers in the northern two-thirds of the state, including Hennepin, Ramsey, and St. Louis counties.
SEIU’s Kids First is organizing providers in much of the southern one-third of counties, including Anoka, Olmsted and Stearns. Providers have been organizing with AFSCME and SEIU for six years.
When providers win, it will be the largest expansion of collective bargaining rights in Minnesota since passage of the Public Employee Labor Relations Act in 1971, the unions said.
“I’m not taking sides on what the outcome should be,” Dayton said at a news conference announcing his decision. “I’m just giving people who are for and people who are against what I think is the fairest way, the American way, to resolve their differences, which is to hold an election and let the majority decide.”
Dayton said his own sons were in family child care when they were young, and he understands how a union could be an advantage for in-home providers like those who cared for his sons.
“I thought they worked far too many hours for far too little income,” Dayton said, “and they didn’t have any health benefits. So I’m sympathetic to those who think that a union, as has been proven in other fields, will lead to better wages, better working conditions, and benefits like health care that I think people should have.”
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| Clarissa Johnston says a union will help providers improve the quality of their profession. |
Supporters, opponents line up
The health of Minnesota’s economy and families depends, in part, on parents having access to high-quality, affordable and dependable child care, says Lisa Thompson, a provider in St. Paul. “Parents can go to work with peace of mind knowing their kids are healthy, learning and safe,” she says.
Being able to unionize and speak with a united voice will help providers improve the quality of their profession by increasing their influence on state rules that affect them, says Clarissa Johnston, a provider in Mounds View. Being unionized will increase providers’ access to training such as first aid and CPR, child nutrition and child abuse prevention, she says.
Thirteen other states currently recognize the right of child care providers to bargain collectively and have a voice in decisions that affect their work. That has helped those states improve training, provide more consistent care, minimize turnover among providers, increase quality and affordability for parents, and help providers get timely reimbursement for their services, Thompson says.
However, Sen. David Hahn, who is assistant majority leader and chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, says Republican leadership in the Legislature will attempt to overturn the executive order in court and block the election. “We will do everything in our power” to stop it, he said.
4,300 Providers Get to Vote
Voters in this union election include only those in-home providers who serve families whose child-care payments are subsidized by the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. It means slightly less than half the state’s in-home child-care providers will be eligible to vote in the union election.
Dayton said he made the distinction because those providers who do not work with subsidized families “are operating their own businesses outside the realm of government.”
Providers will elect a union if a majority of those voting choose to join the union representing their portion of the state. They will have 14 days to vote and their mail-back ballots will be counted by the end of the year. The state has hired a neutral third-party to conduct the election and ensure that it is fair and transparent. “We’re going to do it expeditiously,” said Bureau of Mediation Services Commissioner Josh Tilsen.
If providers vote to form a union, membership will be voluntary, according to Dayton’s order. Providers will not be able to strike.
However, unionized providers will gain exclusive representation to “meet and confer” with the Department of Human Services “regarding issues of mutual concern, including quality standards and quality rating systems; the availability of training opportunities and funding; reimbursement rates; access to benefits; changes to the state system of providing early childhood education services; the monitoring and evaluating of family child care provides; and any other matters that the parties agree would improve recruitment and retention of qualified licensed registered family child care providers and the quality of the programs they provide.”
This article is adapted from a report on the AFSCME Council 5 website.
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The governor’s authorization means 4,300 providers will have 14 days to vote on whether they want a union, and their mail ballots will be counted before the end of the year. If successful, providers will be able to negotiate with the state over standards, funding, quality, and other issues that affect their livelihoods and the care they provide.
AFSCME Council 5’s Child Care Providers Together expects to win an election among 2,300 providers in the northern two-thirds of the state, including Hennepin, Ramsey, and St. Louis counties.
SEIU’s Kids First is organizing providers in much of the southern one-third of counties, including Anoka, Olmsted and Stearns. Providers have been organizing with AFSCME and SEIU for six years.
When providers win, it will be the largest expansion of collective bargaining rights in Minnesota since passage of the Public Employee Labor Relations Act in 1971, the unions said.
“I’m not taking sides on what the outcome should be,” Dayton said at a news conference announcing his decision. “I’m just giving people who are for and people who are against what I think is the fairest way, the American way, to resolve their differences, which is to hold an election and let the majority decide.”
Dayton said his own sons were in family child care when they were young, and he understands how a union could be an advantage for in-home providers like those who cared for his sons.
“I thought they worked far too many hours for far too little income,” Dayton said, “and they didn’t have any health benefits. So I’m sympathetic to those who think that a union, as has been proven in other fields, will lead to better wages, better working conditions, and benefits like health care that I think people should have.”
|
| Clarissa Johnston says a union will help providers improve the quality of their profession. |
Supporters, opponents line up
The health of Minnesota’s economy and families depends, in part, on parents having access to high-quality, affordable and dependable child care, says Lisa Thompson, a provider in St. Paul. “Parents can go to work with peace of mind knowing their kids are healthy, learning and safe,” she says.
Being able to unionize and speak with a united voice will help providers improve the quality of their profession by increasing their influence on state rules that affect them, says Clarissa Johnston, a provider in Mounds View. Being unionized will increase providers’ access to training such as first aid and CPR, child nutrition and child abuse prevention, she says.
Thirteen other states currently recognize the right of child care providers to bargain collectively and have a voice in decisions that affect their work. That has helped those states improve training, provide more consistent care, minimize turnover among providers, increase quality and affordability for parents, and help providers get timely reimbursement for their services, Thompson says.
However, Sen. David Hahn, who is assistant majority leader and chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, says Republican leadership in the Legislature will attempt to overturn the executive order in court and block the election. “We will do everything in our power” to stop it, he said.
4,300 Providers Get to Vote
Voters in this union election include only those in-home providers who serve families whose child-care payments are subsidized by the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. It means slightly less than half the state’s in-home child-care providers will be eligible to vote in the union election.
Dayton said he made the distinction because those providers who do not work with subsidized families “are operating their own businesses outside the realm of government.”
Providers will elect a union if a majority of those voting choose to join the union representing their portion of the state. They will have 14 days to vote and their mail-back ballots will be counted by the end of the year. The state has hired a neutral third-party to conduct the election and ensure that it is fair and transparent. “We’re going to do it expeditiously,” said Bureau of Mediation Services Commissioner Josh Tilsen.
If providers vote to form a union, membership will be voluntary, according to Dayton’s order. Providers will not be able to strike.
However, unionized providers will gain exclusive representation to “meet and confer” with the Department of Human Services “regarding issues of mutual concern, including quality standards and quality rating systems; the availability of training opportunities and funding; reimbursement rates; access to benefits; changes to the state system of providing early childhood education services; the monitoring and evaluating of family child care provides; and any other matters that the parties agree would improve recruitment and retention of qualified licensed registered family child care providers and the quality of the programs they provide.”
This article is adapted from a report on the AFSCME Council 5 website.