Child care providers find VOICE through CSEA

ALBANY, NY (05/12/2011)(readMedia)-- As unions around the country are increasingly under attack, more than 250 independent child care business owners who belong to VOICE/CSEA, Local 100A, have a very different perspective on the importance of organizing a union. They became part of CSEA to ensure a decent standard in their field while working to improve the accessibility and affordability of child care for families in New York state.

CSEA President Danny Donohue, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, State Sen. Diane Savino and officials from the State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) which regulates child care services in New York state, will join providers Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Desmond Hotel to listen and participate in this unprecedented gathering as the group adopts an action plan and establishes political and organizational goals moving them into 2012.

"With these dynamic small business people joining our union, CSEA enters a whole new era. We understand changing with the times to keep our communities strong is important. Quality child care is essential for our communities. These people are committed to ensuring it, and we are committed to helping them," said CSEA President Danny Donohue.

"It's fitting that this group should gather here in the Capital Region because it all began in Schenectady in 2002 when a small group of providers approached CSEA and asked for help," Donohue said. "We didn't know how we were going to do it, but we believed in them and we knew we had to help them fight like hell to get their union."

VOICE/CSEA traces its roots to an executive order issued by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007 that granted child care providers the right to form collective bargaining units. With the support of an overwhelming majority of licensed and registered providers, VOICE/CSEA was later officially certified as the bargaining agent for family and group family child care providers in all 57 counties of New York outside of New York City.

On Feb. 8, 2010, VOICE/CSEA members ratified their first ever contract with OCFS. Shortly thereafter, the executive order was codified into law.

"VOICE/CSEA is a moving story of a hard-fought, long-term grassroots campaign that transformed from a small gathering of people determined to unite for change, to a statewide movement making a difference for the child care providers, children and working families of our state," said CSEA Executive Vice President Mary Sullivan. "It's an incredible chapter in the union movement and a glowing example of women's empowerment."

The VOICE/CSEA mission includes winning more respect for their profession, lobbying counties to make on-time payments and promoting fair and consistent child care regulations and enforcement.

"In every county, we discovered we faced common challenges. There were contradictory regulations that didn't always make sense, inconsistent enforcement and rules, burdensome paperwork, inaccurate reporting and more. That's why we launched the Voice of Organized Independent Childcare Educators (VOICE) statewide in 2003, under the umbrella of CSEA," said Darcel Leone a Suffolk County child care provider.

In recent years, VOICE/CSEA has expanded its work to federal initiatives designed to expand and secure funding for Child Care and Development Block grants and to improve the Child and Adult Care Food Program, legislation that Tonko sponsored. VOICE/CSEA has been involved in many other state and local county fights to secure funds for child care.

"This is the next significant of many chapters in our VOICE story. As we build our membership, we secure what we've accomplished and build power to reach the vision we hold for family child care, children, families and our communities across New York," said Linda Arocho a Schenectady County Group Family child care provider.

"As we gather here in Albany to celebrate our success and adopt an Action Plan for the future, we reflect as a group, on how we've grown; not only as individuals, but as providers and, most importantly, as effective advocates for our communities," said Tioga County child care provider, Rose McCabe.

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