Maine child care providers set to form union Home-based workers want say in state decisions

More than 2,200 child care providers in Maine are expected to announce today their decision to form a union.

The providers are mostly private, home-based small business owners who care for nearly 17,000 children statewide, according to national union organizers. Talk of a union has been in the air for the past year, and ballots were sent out at the beginning of the month.

The Maine State Employees Association, a local unit of the Washington, D.C.-based Service Employees International Union, and the Maine Family Child Care Association are the major promoters of a union.

“The biggest issues have been having a voice and a seat at the table on the decisions that get made at the state level,” said SEIU spokeswoman Avril Smith in an interview Friday. “There are health and safety regulations providers want to have a say in and make sure that they [the regulations] make sense.”

Child care workers also need access to affordable health insurance, Smith said.

Since 2005, 10 states have given child care providers the right to form a union. Illinois, Oregon and Washington state have approved union contracts. Those unions have obtained affordable health insurance and decreased parent co-pays for subsidized child care, Smith said.

Jessica Bickford, a 29-year-old Bangor resident and the newly appointed vice president of the Maine Family Child Care Association, said she is not aware of any Maine organizations opposed to the union. Just over a year ago, Bickford quit her administrative job at Acadia Hospital to start Bright Beginnings, a small child care business in her Forest Avenue home. She gave up her health insurance and took a significant salary cut, but she said in an interview Sunday at her home that she made the right decision, especially because she is able to stay at home with her 4-year-old son, Riley.

“I found it really hard in this area to find quality child care where I had peace of mind,” Bickford said. “I saw there was a need and decided to start my business.”

Bickford has told the parents of the six children she cares for about her interest in the union and assuaged any of their fears, she said. The union would not have the right to strike, Bickford said.

“I think that once they get their questions answered, they’re all supportive,” Bickford said. “The main goal is to provide the highest level of child care.”

Right now, Bickford said she does not have any specific problems with any of the state’s child care regulations, but would like the opportunity for child care providers to contribute to future requirements.

The 2,200 workers are the state’s licensed and legally unlicensed caregivers. In Maine, legally unlicensed providers are permitted to care for up to two children in a home setting for a relative or friend.

If the workers elect to form a union, they must convince Gov. John Baldacci and the Legislature to grant it legal status, which would allow union representatives to bargain on behalf of workers.

Union membership would be voluntary, and the cost of dues has not been estimated.