by Mike Hall, Aug 15, 2007

Some 10,000 Maryland home child care providers and home health care workers won bargaining rights earlier this month when Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signed executive orders granting the workers the right to join unions. Says O’Malley:

If workers want to elect a union so their voices can be heard we should not stand in the way of that.

The executive order for home care providers says the workers save the state millions of dollars a year, yet many of those home health aides do not earn a living wage:

Home care services save the state millions of dollars per year, as the average Medicaid expenditure for an individual receiving in-home personal care is well below the average Medicaid expenditure for an individual in a nursing home.

Many providers do not earn a living wage, and are not offered the training and supports they need in order to provide the highest quality services possible. The combination of these factors causes great turnover in the profession, thereby reducing the consistency and stability with which consumers receive services.

AFSCME representative Joe Lawrence says the low pay and difficulty receiving compensation leads to a high turnover rate of the home care workers, who give the elderly and disabled people an opportunity to remain at home instead of nursing homes.

These kind of things happen when a work force doesn’t have an adequate voice.

O’Malley’s order granting child care workers bargaining rights notes that

Family child care providers play a crucial role in providing quality and affordable child care for young children. Family child care providers are located throughout the State and therefore may not be able to effectively voice their common concerns about participation in the State’s Child Care Subsidy Program, State regulation of child care services, and challenges including limited access to affordable health insurance.

Last month more than 10,000 home child care workers in Pennsylvania and Kansas won bargaining rights when governors in those states signed executive orders and the workers joined Child Care Providers Together/AFSCME in Kansas and United Child Care Union—a joint effort by AFSCME and SEIU—in Pennsylvania.

Child care workers around the country have been fighting for a voice at work. In May, 60,000 New York home child care providers won bargaining rights, as did 40,000 Michigan workers in December. Other recent wins came in Oregon, New Jersey, Iowa, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin.

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