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Wisconsin Child Care Providers Gain Bargaining Rights

November 16, 2006

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Wisconsin child care providers win recognition of their union, CCPT/AFSCME.

Photo Credit: Jeff Rae

More than 7,000 licensed and certified child care providers throughout the state – self-employed, independent contractors – now have a mighty voice to negotiate improvements to Wisconsin child care and build a brighter future for themselves. The reason: An independent arbitrator recently certified Child Care Providers Together/AFSCME as their exclusive union representative.

“This is a dream that I’ve had for a long time,” says Maichao Lor of Wausau, who 20 years ago became the state’s first Hmong family licensed day care provider. (The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of southern China. More than 47,000 Hmong refugees from a Communist regime live in Wisconsin, drawn by relatives who emigrated earlier).

“We have done this [achieved union certification] for each other,” says Sonia Aguilar Villarreal, a union supporter who runs a day care center on Milwaukee’s south side. “And we have taken a step forward.”

Joining forces and forming a union, says AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee, gives these providers “a voice in the policies that affect their profession.”

English-, Spanish- and Hmong-speaking providers from metro, suburban and rural areas launched their drive to build a union early last summer. Their first achievement occurred on Oct. 6, 2006, when Gov. Jim Doyle (D) signed an executive order granting licensed and certified child care providers statewide the right to form a union, and to negotiate improvements to child care.

Just days later, providers delivered thousands of cards indicating their support for CCPT/AFSCME.

On Oct. 30, a state-recognized arbitrator certified that a majority had designated CCPT/AFSCME as their union. The next step is identifying provider leaders across the state to participate in a “meet-and-confer” negotiation process with state officials.

This victory increases the momentum of a national CCPT/AFSCME movement among child care professionals. Similar union organizing campaigns have been successful across the country:

  • Iowa. More than 6,000 registered child care providers joined CCPT/AFSCME Council 61 after their governor signed an executive order in January 2006 recognizing their union.
  • Oregon. About 5,000 child care providers organized with CCPT/AFSCME Council 75 in 2005 and achieved a landmark first contract in October 2006.
  • Minnesota. The state’s CCPT/AFSCME-represented child care providers now stand more than 2,000 strong with Council 5.
  • Child care providers in California, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania are also joining together to improve and organize the child care profession. To learn why, click here.

AFSCME represents more than 1.4 million members and is the largest union of child care providers. The union represents more than 150,000 family child care providers, day care center workers, Head Start teachers and early childhood employees across the nation.

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