Maine Lawmakers Hijack Day-care Costs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Brian M Johnson
10 SEPTEMBER 2007
202-785-0266
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Maine Lawmakers Hijack Day-care Costs
Labor Analyst Expresses Concern about Growing Trend
Washington, DC – Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) opposes the recent push in Maine to give child care providers the right to unionize. Since 2005, 10 states have allowed providers to unionize and three states, Washington, Illinois and Oregon, have approved union contracts. Currently, Maine is mailing ballots to providers in October and should have the results by early November. Many state’s child care unionization proposals have provisions that allow day-care providers to organize if a certain percentage (a popular number is 30 percent), of those who receive state subsidies authorize a union to be their representative. The union would then become the exclusive representative of all day-care providers in the state.
“In doing so, Big Labor is given the power to push state subsidy rates well-above what private parents currently pay. In short, union bosses can bargain on several issues on behalf of a private contractor. Unions are representatives, and in this case, they represent the child-care provider, NOT the child. Therefore, Governor Baldacci should oppose this measure as unions will bargain on behalf of the business rather than the child’s best interest,” says Johnson.
“Make no mistake, if this union day-care collective bargaining trend continues, parents will have to pay outrageous prices to send their children to a providers home, where safety is compromised because a high-end luxury car now sits in the driveway thanks to union bargaining.”
