Bill aims to let child-care workers unionize | Greater Southeastern ...

Cape Cod Times

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BOSTON ? Rep. Cleon H. Turner, D-Dennis, is pushing legislation that would allow child-care providers to unionize, changing the way they would be paid for their services.

The bill would give the proposed Massachusetts Early Childhood Educators Union the right to negotiate with the state over compensation and benefits for providers.

"What this bill really talks about is not only the quality of the staffing, but also the ability of the staff to live in places like Cape Cod and be able to earn a living that will sustain them," Turner said in a telephone interview.

The cost of living on Cape Cod is higher than in some other regions of Massachusetts and child-care providers should be paid more, he said.

The state provides funding for child-care for low-income families. The state and each childcare provider discuss and settle on a rate that will be paid to enroll a child in a day care center. The family then pays a part of the cost based on income and the state pays the rest.

The legislation also would create higher standards for child-care to be established during the bargaining process.

Turner says the legislation would help day care providers and parents. "They need these programs ... so that (parents) can go to work and earn a living," he said.

But Andre Mayer, senior vice president for research at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, fears that day-care providers and teachers will bargain with the state to raise the price of child care to something that is unaffordable for parents who do not receive state subsidies.

According to a U.S. Small Business Administration study called "Child Day-Care Services Management and Planning Series," 79 percent of the revenue that day care providers earn comes from parents.

"The cost is going to fall on the families that are paying," he said.

Mayer said his group believes that the state should focus on providing a better education for children who are in state-subsidized day care, but that simply paying the teachers more will not achieve this goal.

Mayer said that Associated Industries of Massachusetts would like to see more consistency in education and experience requirements for child-care workers who now have a wide range of educational and experience, ranging from high school to some with college degrees in early childhood development.

The House Public Service Committee is discussing the bill.

"Everybody wants the best we can do in terms of offering quality in early childhood education," committee chair Rep. John W. Scibak, D-South Hadley, said in a telephone interview. "The disagreement seems to be as to whether it makes sense to look at this approach."

Source: http://www.gsmlaborcouncil.org/node/8131

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