Taking Head Start to a Higher Level
Denise Dowell and Gary Martin are hard at work in their respective communities laying the groundwork for a national movement to give Head Start workers wage and benefits commensurate with their jobs of nurturing a vital “natural” resource: children.
The federal and state Head Start program prepares 3-to 5-year-olds from low-income families for school. Teachers, case managers, educational assistants, custodial and maintenance workers, clerical staff, teachers’ aides and bus drivers all work to make the program, and each and every student, a success. Most make less than $20,000 a year; teachers and case managers top out at about $25,000 annually. Their counterparts in public schools make far more. Ironically, many of the Head Start workers don’t have the resources to adequately take care of their own children. Yet, they still find time to take care of economically disadvantaged little ones.
“The reason why the employees with public schools in Ohio make substantially more money for doing similar work is because they’ve had the opportunity to bargain collectively for over 15 years,” states Martin, associate director and director of organizing for the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)/ AFSCME Local 4.
AFSCME steps in. Simply put, AFSCME is organizing the workers because they have no one looking out for them. The workers aren’t respected for their experience and they can’t make decisions that will improve the quality of working conditions and the education of preschool children. All too often Head Start funds are given to grantees but the dollars don’t get to the workers or to the children, and the programs suffer.
A look at Head Start organizing programs in Ohio and Pennsylvania shows two successful campaigns with different approaches, but their bottom line is the same: representing as many workers as possible to give them a powerful voice in the workplace and at the bargaining table.
It wasn’t until 1998 that the National Labor Relations Board gave the green light to organizing Head Start workers. The NLRB’s decision out of Georgia allowed Head Start workers to organize, setting a precedent for the program’s workers nationwide. Since that decision, AFSCME and its affiliates have been organizing and representing the workers at a hurried pace. Today, more than 6,500 Head Start workers are represented by AFSCME and that number is climbing.
Raising the bar nationally. To raise the consciousness of America to the low wages and benefits of these workers, the International has taken on an advocacy role to bolster the program. It’s a lofty goal but one that’s attainable because of AFSCME’s stature as one of the most progressive labor unions.
In April, AFSCME representatives attended the annual conference of the National Head Start Association in Minneapolis, where meetings were held with Head Start managers who expressed an interest in working with AFSCME to increase wages and benefits; lobby at local, state and federal levels to increase funding for the program; and develop training and professional standards.
“Head Start is a predominantly female workforce, and the work is so undervalued in our society,” says Dowell, director of organizing for the United Child Care Union (UCCU), an affiliate of District 1199C, National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE). “I believe that unions can play a critical role in changing that.”
In January, Dowell and NUHHCE organized nearly 400 workers from Philadelphia’s largest Head Start employer outside of the public schools, Resources for Human Development (RHD). Dowell says their sights are now set on the surrounding five-county Philadelphia area where Head Start workers are being merged with child care workers.
Martin states that out of the 40 Head Start programs in Ohio, OAPSE organizers have been in touch with half of them. They now represent five units and eight more have pending election dates.
Grassroots organizing programs in local communities such as these illustrate what sweeping changes are possible for Head Start programs all across the nation.
Philadelphia freedom. Despite a mean-spirited, anti-union campaign waged by RHD, Head Start workers voted 2 to 1 for union representation in Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pa. Dowell says the workers stuck together and “conducted our campaign in a dignified manner.” Because of that, the workers gained the respect of child care advocates in the city. She states that once the word got out about RHD, child care employers “were appalled by the anti-union activities, as well as the poor quality of the Head Start program.”
This is a good sign for UCCU. Since Head Start programs are merging with child care programs, the union has new supporters willing to organize more workers. Dowell states that the move is especially important for child care workers because they get paid less money than Head Start workers and “they’re doing the same job.”
Siding with the law. When the NLRB’s decision came down in 1998, OAPSE was in the midst of a major campaign to organize 500 Head Start workers in Toledo. “The timing was perfect for us because things were really coming to a head,” explains Martin. “We prevailed 4 to 1 in that election and that really got the ball rolling. Right on the heels of that victory, we had another election in Youngstown with a group of bus drivers, and we prevailed there overwhelmingly, also.”
Recently, OAPSE tallied three more units — in Lima, Akron and a four-county unit in northwest Ohio. All totaled, more than 1,000 Head Start workers in the state now have union protection.
OAPSE started its organizing campaign by requesting the names, telephone numbers and addresses of workers from Head Start employers through the Ohio Public Records Act, a state law. “It’s one that unions traditionally have not used because I think they’ve been afraid of the employer getting what they view as a — pardon the pun — head start on an anti-union program,” Martin says. “But it turned out to backfire on the employer. We would send the requests for information out. The employer would send it to us, but they also would send a letter to their employees telling them to be aware because there’s this union who’s just requested information about you, so you may start getting bugged by them.
“Instead of getting cards of interest back from some of those employees, we got phone calls from them and they said, ‘Hey, our employer said you guys were hovering over us, ready to organize us, and we want to know where you’re at. We’re ready to be organized,’” adds Martin.
Ownership by the workers. Dowell and Martin both agree that for any organizing campaign to be successful, the workers must take ownership of the process.
“We’ve had tremendous organizing committees — workers who’ve been willing to make phone calls and talk to their co-workers, explains Martin. We’ve also given them the latitude to take a group of employees out for lunch or whatever.”
UCCU works with organizing committees to build lists and use house calls to talk to workers. “It’s really critical to go and house visit these workers because many times they’re afraid to talk to you at the worksite because their employer is waging a very subtle, or out in the open, anti-union campaign,” Dowell asserts. “We find that when you go meet somebody at their home, they are able to meet you in a relaxed kind of way, asking any questions they want.”
Power to the people. Organized Head Start workers have the opportunity to enhance the livelihood of their families, as well as improve the quality of the program. Martin encourages workers to think selfishly when organizing for better wages, benefits and professional development standards.
“For things that are important to us in life that have a very high value, monetarily or emotionally, we have insurance on them — car, house and family,” he says. “What more important thing to have insurance on than your job, which provides you the revenue and resources to have all of the other things I just mentioned.
“When people band together they can make a difference,” Martin continues. “I think we’re able to sell that to people because we, the labor family, believe it.”
By Jimmie Turner
