Pundits consistently extol the importance of safeguarding children, yet child care continues to get short shrift. There are currently 12 million children under 5 year enrolled in child care in the United States today, yet the people who care for them are among the nation’s lowest paid workers.
A 1998 study conducted by the Center for the Child Care Workforce found that childcare workers’ hourly pay averaged just $6 – less than parking lot attendants. In New York City, where the cost of living is one of the highest in the nation, day care providers now earn about $19,000 per year.
But that might soon change. N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed an executive order last week, giving 60,000 home-based child care providers the right to unionize.
The United Federation of Teachers, the Civil Service Employees Association and the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) have been working to organize childcare workers who now often live at or below poverty level.
Yesterday, cards signed by more than 12,000 home-based childcare workers were delivered to the UFT. As soon as the State Employment Relations Board certifies them, an election will be held to form a union. The Governor said the order would enhance "the quality of care for our children," the New York Times reported.
Spitzer’s predecessor, George E. Pataki, vetoed a similar bill a year ago, voicing concern for how the state would pay additional expenses. Home-based childcare workers are re-imbursed by the state for caring for children from low-income families.
Randi Weingarten, president of the union said workers’ pay affected the children’s education, as well as being an issue of economic justice. Turnover among childcare workers is very high due to the low pay and high demands of the position.
ACORN and the teachers union want to unionize 28,000 child-care providers in the city by this summer.
"These workers are at the low end of the totem pole," said ACORN Lead Organizer John Kest. "There are many earning just $2 or $3 an hour," the Times reported.