More than 2,000 Child Care Providers in Minnesota Now Have AFSCME Representation
October 19, 2006
October 19, 2006
From left, child care champion
Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt,
CCPT leaders Lisa Thompson and
Carrie Stanton, the kids they care for,
Council 5 representative John
Thorson and organizer Jeff Fowler.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Lovaasen
Child care providers in Minnesota are on a roll, thanks to trailblazing agreements between county governments and Child Care Providers Together/AFSCME Council 5. In March, 420 St. Louis County providers became the state’s first home-based child care workers to win union representation. Four months later, 1,400 Hennepin County providers formed a union with AFSCME as well. On Oct. 3, Ramsey County took a bold step when commissioners voted unanimously to recognize CCPT. With the county’s 860 licensed providers gaining AFSCME representation, the state’s unionized child care providers now stand more than 2,000 strong!
“For decades our union has teamed up with county governments to improve service delivery,” says AFSCME Council 5 Exec. Director Eliot Seide, who is also an International vice president. “These new partnerships will lead the way to making child care work better.”
Both providers – who earn an average of $2.83 an hour per child – and parents share concerns about deep funding cuts and low wages. In Minnesota, child care programs have been cut by $140 million in the last three years, hurting prospects for fairer wages. “The state needs to invest in kids by increasing subsidies for quality care and education,” says Ramsey County child care provider Lisa Thompson.
Studies have shown there is a direct link between quality child care and success in both school and life. “I’m teaching astronauts, teachers, doctors, nurses, construction workers, all the people it takes to make a community,” says Julie Schendzielos, a Sherburne (cq) County provider who considers herself “a professional caregiver, not a babysitter. I don’t think we’re getting any respect, except from the parents who know what we’re doing on a daily basis.”
CCPT/AFSCME works with 150,000 child care providers of nationwide, to deliver training opportunities and better working conditions. AFSCME Council 5 represents 43,000 public and non-profit employees throughout Minnesota.
