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N.Y. Home Child Care Providers Close to Winning Right to Form Unions |
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More than 50,000 New York home child care providers are close to winning the right to join unions. The state Senate voted June 21 to override Gov. George Pataki’s (R) veto of a bill granting the workers the right to organize into unions.
The 57–4 vote in the Republican-controlled Senate paves the way for the House, which has a Democratic majority, to follow suit. The regular legislative session is over, but the House may return for the override vote.
New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), an AFT affiliate, and CSEA\AFSCME Local 100 have been working closely with the home child care providers to win their right to join unions. NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin says the legislation:
helps child care providers gain the tools they need to improve their working conditions.
The workers provide day care services in their homes and are paid by the state for caring for children of low-income families. They currently are classified as independent contractors without the right to unionize.
New York State AFL-CIO president Denis Hughes says the legislation:
gives providers a formal mechanism to address the difficult issues they face in the job, including funding cuts, lack of input on regulations that govern their work, lack of access to affordable health insurance and lack of respect for the work they do as professionals.
CSEA President Danny Donohue says the business community and other opponents of the bill misrepresented its impact:
This legislation is intended to pave the way for child-care providers to improve their profession and the quality of care for the children they serve. It’s a good law for providers, parents and business alike. The return on this investment will be a stronger economy because parents can go to work everyday knowing their children are being cared for in a safe, healthy and homelike environment.
Home child care workers have won the right to join unions in several states recently. In February, some 6,000 Iowa child care workers joined AFSCME as did 5,000 home child care providers in Oregon last September.
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