Some SW Childcare Providers Opposed To Union

For more than six years, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have been exploring offering the option of a union to more than 4,400 child care providers in Minnesota.

According to Gov. Mark Dayton’s executive order, now is the time to take the vote on whether to move ahead with that idea or not.

AFCSME and the SEIU are to poll 4,400 providers who are using or are eligible to use state money to augment their child care programming, or CCAP.

Only three states have been able to do what Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is asking the state to explore: unionization of thousands of child care providers, many of whom work independently from their homes.

The problem? There are more than 11,300 child care providers in the state, many of whom don't take CCAP money, and they say a new union might threaten their business in order to make them join up.

Pat Kisling has owned her own in-home childcare business in Southwest Minneapolis for 40 years. She says she worries that she and other providers who don't serve poor children who need subsidized tuition would get forced out of the business unless they joined the union.

"If they’re going to vote to put a union place it should be voted by all providers," she said. "I’ve been in the business long enough to know that eventually (unionized providers) will stop referring clients."

Kisling said many providers in Minneapolis serve a mix of subsidized and non-subsidized children, and she gets often gets new customers referred to her from other providers with subsidized children. If these referals stopped coming in, she said, she could go out of business.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (R-Buffalo) and House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove), the governor said Kisling's fears were unfounded

"It appears that you and other opponents of unions are trying to scare small family providers that a big, bad union and the big, bad government will join forces to ruin child care in Minnesota," Dayton said. "It isn't true.

Kisling said she also feared that a union based on providers serving low-income children will drag state childcare standards down,because the state and the new union could develop a cozy relationship.

Marie Pufpaff, another Southwest Minneapolis in-home childcare provider, said she thinks she'd have to pass the cost of union dues on to parents if she needed to join up to stay in business.

"No-one makes a lot of money at this job," agreed Sandi Magi, a friend of Kisling and Pufpaff and another childcare provider.

Magi said that she doesn't see a need for a union.

"I know the union (AFSCME) keeps talking about sitting at the table and negotiating for us," Magi said. "But we have people—Childcare Associates has a lobbyist, there's the childcare provider association, also a lot of counties or regions (of the state) have an association that becomes a support for local providers."