Union critical of latest version of collective bargaining bill

The American Federation of Teachers is unhappy with the latest version of a bill that would allow some child care providers to collectively bargain with the state.

The bill squeaked out of the House Committee on Human Services on Friday with a 6-5 vote.

The bill was scaled back significantly compared to when it was introduced. It now applies to about 1,500 home-based child care providers rather than about 7,000 providers and workers. Child care centers and the workers there are no longer included in the bill. The American Federation of Teachers, the union that has pushed hard for the bill, said excluding the centers is "extremely disappointing."

Here's a statement from Andrew Tripp, the executive director of AFT-Vermont.   

"It is extremely disappointing, and makes little sense, that child care centers were excluded; it leaves too many children, through their providers, without a voice. The voice that appeared to ring the loudest with the legislators was from the large corporate-like centers in Chittenden County, who used their limited resources to hire lobbyists to silence the voices of the smaller centers with fewer resources."

He continued:

 "We hope this silencing is merely temporary as we move through the next steps of the legislative process. Legislators must recognize the expertise of all early educators as a whole and include them in H.97. All providers will remain focused on getting to the table to lend their expertise to the shared efforts of improving the child care delivery system."

Rep. Ann Pugh, who chairs the committee, said yesterday that the other states that have allowed childcare workers to collectively bargain have excluded childcare centers and that's the method that has proven to increase the quality of early education.  

The bill would allow child care workers to bargain with the state to get higher subsidies, which are a crucial source of funding for the industry.