California Child Care Union Strikes Deal to Preserve Benefits, Bump Up Pay

Approximately 60,000 home-based child care providers will get to preserve their retirement, health care and training benefits and receive a pay bump under a contract deal their union leaders have struck with the state of California.

During months of labor talks, the bargaining team for Child Care Providers United said the state was threatening to cut back some of the benefits and postpone implementing a plan to bring their payments up to the “true cost of care.”

But under the tentative agreement, those benefits will be preserved over the next three years, union leaders said Monday.

“In these times in which healthcare is under attack by the federal government in the form of Medicaid cuts, which of course is Medi-Cal for us, it’s significant to have a benefit like that so they can take care of themselves and their families as they continue to do this work,” said Max Arias, chief negotiator for the union.

He encouraged members to enroll in the CCPU Health Fund to get reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses and possibly monthly premiums.

The state also offered a cost-of-living adjustment that amounts to a 1.5% subsidy rate increase and $90 million in one-time “stabilization payments” per child, per month, while the two sides work toward implementing the payment plan.

“The stabilization payments means that the state of California recognizes the severe financial pressure we face and they’re taking action to inject direct funds into the system,” said Yolanda Thomas, owner of Best Beginnings Day Care in Pittsburg and a member of the bargaining team.

As small-business owners, home-based child care providers like Thomas don’t have access to employer-provided benefits. In 2019, they won the right to collectively bargain because many of them receive reimbursements from the state to serve lower-income families.

For years, the providers complained that the state doesn’t pay them enough to cover the costs of care, putting them at a much higher risk of closing their doors than child care centers, which destabilizes the child care market.

Thomas is licensed to provide care for up to 14 children out of her home, but she’s currently serving 12 with her husband’s help — although soon he’ll have other work to do. She said the funds will allow her to hire an assistant and serve more families, and help cover the cost of online classes she’s about to begin taking to earn a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education through EDvance College.

Thomas has been a child care provider since 2001, but she said she was motivated to continue her professional development so she can earn a living wage.

“The way we do that is by furthering our education, making sure that the state and parents know that we’re not just babysitters,” she said. “We don’t sit on babies. We teach babies, we make sure they are ready for their brick-and-mortar school.”

Members will be asked to ratify the deal in several weeks, the union said.