Stop the union from trying to take over childcare in Vermont

[tfence]

Right you are 3plusk Elsa has done an amazing job for all of us.

Please consider sending thank you emails to the Senators who voted against S.52 this morning.

Senator Doyle: Wdoyle@leg.state.vt.us
 Senator Collins: Dcollins@leg.state.vt.us
 Senator Mullin: Kmullin@leg.state.vt.us
 
Nothing fancy, just a quick acknowledgement and thanks!

[ohhman]

I sent mine yesterday before Elsa posted it was a good idea to do so!!  Thought it was important as for the many calls, emails & testimony I gave the committee, I owed them a thankyou for listening & really hearing our voice!!

[ohhman]

Again we are asking for your support to call our state reps & say NO to the union trying to form for childcare workers!!!  We have been told there is NEW language about forming a union for childcare workers in the HOME Health Care Union Bill that many senators support!!  Please call or email senators ASAP & tell them to not support this Health Care Bill UNLESS the language for childcare union is deleted from the bill!!  Thankyou!!

[tfence]

The sneeky Union won. They snuck it into a misc. education bill at the last minute today. All I have to say is good luck parents dealing with half the home daycares closing and/or the cost of childcare going through the roof.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9c61tfapyiembw2/Misc%20Education%20bill.pdf

[tfence]

I just want to clarify something. I am not against union in the normal way between an employer and employee. But, this is not that type of union. I have never seen this type. This type of union will take dues from home daycares (self employed companies) and collectively bargain for subsidy rates for low income families. At most if any they will only raise it enough to get their dues paid. It has nothing to do with the care of the children. Nor does it have anything to do with the income in which the daycare owners make. Even still it is possible that the union could come in and mandate what these home daycares have to charge working parants and in return raise their dues. How do you think they had the money to put on all those lunchins on for the commitee down at the state house and pay all those supporters $100.00 per day to show up to lobby in t shirts (they fed them to). That money came from the parents across the country in states they have already won. Now our parents money are going to be sent to other states for the same process. I fail to see how the childcare industry are to benifit at all from this type of union. Shumlin dropped the ball on this one. He pushed for it. They say we have a choice to join. Ha ha. They are already talking, if you don't join there will be a diferent subsidy rate for you than if you where union or you would not be aloud subsidy families. (Good luck finding childcare in rural VT then), The other talk is "fair share fee" you have heard this with the teachers union I am sure. The other problem is if you do not join the union you will not be able to contact the state for anything. They control that. At this point this does not effect us being a larger center (we are exempt from this bill) but give them an inch and they will take a mile. Eventually they will have their claws in us. I am curious how our subsidy payment will be effected being exempt form this bill. We are about 20% subsidy.

[nhibbard]

I'm surprised that in a time of tight budgets and jobless rates, there are still so many elected officials with such a myopic view when they hear stories from lobbyists. Unions can only increase costs, both financial and administrative. They will make the process more complex and burdensome when contract changes come up. As for the "fair share" fee, why should anyone expect that their work won't filter down to others who didn't bargain. If Staples offers something at a lower price, most other stores match it. I don't pay a fee to get that lower price. Whatever contract rate is reached, that is for everyone. If a daycare meets standards, they can charge the rate. Just a way for people who don't provide a direct service to further needlessly complicate a system.

[nhibbard]

Page 19 of the link actually refers to a secret ballot. I love secrets when choosing group leaders. If the Board doesn't like you, you'll never know because the secret squirrels won't tell.

[tfence]

Thanks Nhibbard for pointing this out. The union has made a mockery of our governmental process. The USA has always been a country in which the majority wins the vote. In this case we know only less than 20% of homes childcare want to be union. Yet the union can operate as the only negotiating entity on behalf of all the childcare in Vermont. I am out raged at the way this has turned out. We all need to take a look at our state government starting with the Governor then the senate. I am wondering where the senators that are against unionizing childcare are now. While this was going through the committee most of them where against it. They should be upset at how sneaky the union and their fellow senators were that were for the union. I am saying this is a joke how it has happened. We all need to do something about how this happened. Call/email your senators and let them know you are outraged. 

[ohhman]

EVERYONE!!!  Please call the Sgt. at Arms  802-282-2228  & leave a message for Sen. Jane Kitchel,  chair of the Appropriations committee & where this current bill sits about the union & PLEASE ask her to oppose this bill & NOT let it out of committee!!!  This call will take less than 2 minutes & EVERYONE's call is needed; whether you have children, grandchildren or not, we providers need your support;  some of them do listen!!   THANKS!!!!!

[ohhman]

We NEED your help!!  The Senate Appropriations approved the Misc.Ed bill which included the Childcare Union Amendment bill!!!   PLEASE call the Sgt. At Arms & clearly say NO to this bill!!! This call takes less than 2 minutes!!  PLEASE read the following:

Consider the facts.

Of the 15 states that have unionized child care providers, only 6 have an active contract.

Only a tiny percent (less than 5%) of child care providers who pay dues or fees have obtained any form of health insurance.

All things negotiated by a union with the state are subject to legislative funding. This means that even if you negotiate a raise in subsidy rates or health insurance, you still can't get it until - or if - the legislature provides adequate funding for it.

When a union wins recognition through an executive order or a vote, it represents every provider in the bargaining unit, even those who do not want representation.

The unions have assessed fair share dues to non-members in every state in which they are legally permitted to do so.  These fees are typically close to the same amount as full dues.

Since the first child care union was formed in 2005, unions have siphoned tens of millions of dollars from the child care assistance programs, even as many of those programs faced funding reductions.

Child care providers are independent contractors. We are small business owners - not state employees - and are therefore are not covered under the National Labor Relations Act.  And, in most cases, we are not covered by any state labor laws which means we have no labor law protections and no way to decertify or break free from the unions once they are recognized.

As small business owners, we set our own rates, create our own working conditions, and determine what goes into our contracts with parents. We are in charge of our own success!

A large portion of union dues go out of state to the National Union and many of these dollars are not even used for child care unions.

All locals must follow bylaws and rules determined by the National Union whether or not those bylaws or rules support our profession.

Unions spend millions of dollars each year supporting political candidates you may not support.

One accomplishment the unions made in some states in which they reached a contract was increased subsidy rates.  However, when subsidy rates are locked in, cuts to the program cannot be made by reducing rates; cutbacks must come from somewhere else. This has resulted in families losing their assistance after budget cuts.

Providers already have many organizations working on their behalf such as the National Association of Family Child Care (www.nafcc.org) and state-wide child care associations (Vermont Child Care Providers Assocation). 


(Source: http://childcareunioninformation.weebly.com/facts.html)

[tfence]

Relaying from "Vermonters For The Independence Of Child Care Professionals"
As I shared last night, the bill has passed out of Senate Appropriations. 
It's do or die time. 

This bill is scheduled to be debated and voted on by the whole senate on Wednesday and Thursday.  Therefore, starting today, we need to get as many people as we can to flood the statehouse with phone calls every single day.  These calls should come from anyone you know, not just childcare providers.  Friends, family, spouses, childcare parents.  Think about ways you can get others to call.  Post to Facebook? Send out a broadcast email?  Have your phone ready when parents pick up their children?  Personally call friends and request their help?  Post to a local Front Porch Forum?  I cannot stress the importance of this task. 
 



Calls take less than 2 minutes.  Here is the link to find out who your Senator is by county. 
 
1.Dial 802-828-2228 and ask to leave a message for Senator(s) _____________, _____________, etc. 
2.Give name, town of residence and phone number.
3.Message is "Vote NO on childcare union amendment.
 
Remember, this needs to be done every single day this week by as many people as we can get.  Thanks for your final push and I will keep you posted on any changes I hear of. 

Elsa

We need all the help on this if anyone cares about the future of our economy. Childcare will be unaffordable for parents in these SMALL BUSINESSES. If you are a self employed carpenter, plumber, painter, tax accountant, any small business you can think of. This bill will be a gateway for any of these small business industries to be forced into unionizing beyond their choice. Tom

[tfence]

Today is the day they start. please make it a point to call them today. Thanks

[Chris Santee]

You might want to wish Bill Doyle a Happy 87th if you call him.

[ohhman]

Please ALL that read this, call your senators today to say NO to the amended childcare bill that was attached to the Misc. Ed bill!! Call 802-828-2228  leave this message with the Sgt. at Arms; takes less than 2 min!!Thanks!!  Below is a good article that appeared in Vt. Digger.




Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Bill Stritzler, managing director of Smuggler’s Notch Resort. He is past chair of the Vermont Business Roundtable, and he has been actively involved in promoting quality early childhood education.
 
Early childhood programs nationwide have been challenged with poor funding and low standards, while more and more research shows the benefits to young children and society in the long run. In Vermont, there has been recognition of the need to improve quality standards and add funding, most recently through pre-K and home visiting legislation.
 
The Vermont Legislature is debating an unusual bill that could undermine the work on quality improvement by allowing home-based child-care providers to collectively bargain quality incentives against the state.
 


It may be in the interest of the businesses to collectively bargain for the highest possible payments for the lowest possible quality standards, but it is certainly not in the best interest of the children we wish to benefit from early childhood education.
 
Vermont has adopted a program called Step Ahead Recognition System (STARS), which is a five-level voluntary quality rating system to provide financial incentives to increase quality of child-care programs. STARS is professionally administered by the Department for Children and Families, and it allows home-based providers to earn up to a 40 percent premium on state payments to their businesses.
 
Collective bargaining has historically played an important role in our society by allowing employees to join together to bargain for higher wages and better working conditions. But this legislative proposal is very different because it would be businesses bargaining – not employees – and they would bargain for their own quality incentives, and not for wages and benefits.
 
It may be in the interest of the businesses to collectively bargain for the highest possible payments for the lowest possible quality standards, but it is certainly not in the best interest of the children we wish to benefit from early childhood education.
 
The bill would allow collective bargaining of the financial incentives the state pays to providers at each of the five STARS quality levels resulting in a shift of payments for high quality to lower quality providers.
 
The incentives established by the state to promote high quality child care should be determined by the professionals at DCF and not by professional collective bargaining negotiators.
 
Vermont’s STARS program has gone a long way towards improving the quality of care that our young children receive. Let’s hope the Legislature doesn’t take a step backwards and allow the state’s quality incentives to be the subject of collective bargaining. That’s not in the best interest of our children; shouldn’t that be our most important concern?

Posted in Opinion | Tagged Bill Stritzler, child-care union, ep Ahead Recognition System (STARS)

[ohhman]

YES!!!  It is not over yet but this certainly is good news for us!!  Thankyou to all whom have called; YOU really do make a difference!!

This morning the Senate took up H.521, the Misc. Ed bill with the union amendment.  The amendment was voted as NOT being germane.  This means (in my terms anyway) that it is not relevant enough to the underlying bill.  In other words, they could not attach a gas tax bill onto a bill related to childcare regulations because they are not relevant to each other.  This is FABULOUS news for us! 


However, I must stress that we are not letting our guard down until the legislature adjourns for the session.  The AFT has multiple tricks up their sleeves and will not just go away this easily.  We expect they will attempt to attach the language somewhere else, but every step of the way it gets harder for them to do. I promise to keep you posted as I learn of updates from our team at the statehouse. 


This was sent to us by Elsa Bosma, an amazing woman who has led us in our struggle for NO UNION for childcare providers.