For Immediate Release
Thursday, April 29, 2004
CA Family Child Care Workers to Ride to Sacramento
Members of the United Child Care Union to ride more than 500 miles to protest cuts
SAN DIEGO —Family care providers from across the state will be riding more than 500 miles on a bus from San Diego to Sacramento on Saturday, May 1, to join thousands of other providers to participate in Lobby Day to protest Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts to child care.
The family care providers are making the 500-mile trip to the state capital to join other family and child care providers, union members and coalition partners on May 3 to lobby California state legislators to protest proposed cuts to state-subsidized early care and education programs.
More than 50 family care providers from, all members of the United Child Care Union (UCCU)/AFSCME, will be making the journey to Sacramento. The bus will board in San Diego and make stops in Altadena, Santa Maria, Salinas and finally Sacramento. On Monday, May 3, the riders will participate in Lobby Day, which begins with an hour-long rally at 9:30 a.m. on the steps of the State Capitol. After the rally, members of the UCCU/AFSCME and other groups will meet with legislators to encourage them to vote against the proposed budget cuts.
"We teach the children, care for them and provide for them," said Alma Romero, a San Diego family care provider and the president of the Hispanic Association of Family Care Providers. "The children will be the ones who will ultimately pay if these proposed budgets cuts are approved."
Parents, child care providers and other opponents of the proposed cuts spoke out at the State Capitol on April 14 at an Assembly budget hearing on the proposed cuts. The budget cuts will affect more than 100,000 California children who rely on subsidized child care providers to care for them.
WHO: Approximately 50 family child care providers from across the state
WHAT: Family care providers to ride bus to Sacramento to lobby legislators, bus stops include San Diego, Altadena, Santa Maria and Salinas
WHEN: Saturday, May 1, 2004, 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Chula Vista Shopping Mall Parking Lot near Carrows Restaurant H and Broadway, San Diego
The United Child Care Union (UCCU) is the only labor union nationwide devoted solely to child care. Founded and run by child care providers, UCCU advocates for greater investment in children, child care and child care workers. UCCU is affiliated with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). AFSCME is one of the largest and fastest growing public service employees unions with 1.4 million members. AFSCME organizes for social and economic justice in the workplace through political action and legislative advocacy.
