SACRAMENTO – Child Care Providers United released the following statement following the Senate and Assembly’s approval of AB 378 (Limón), The Building a Better Early Care and Education System Act:
“With the passage of this legislation, the child care workforce is closer to having the opportunity to sit down with the state and improve child care system so it becomes the best in the nation,” said Tonia McMillian, a Bellflower family child care provider who served on the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education and is a member of SEIU Local 99.
“We will work to ensure every child–regardless of his or her background or neighborhood–has the chance to succeed. Child care work has long been women’s work and written out of the formal economy and out of the rules that help us form unions and get ahead, lifting up our families and our communities. That’s kept our wages low and and the price of child care high. Child care providers are ready to lead for change.”
“AB 378 (Limón) supports Governor Newsom’s focus on early childhood education and the challenges working parents face as they juggle work schedules and affording life in California, ” added Monnick Antilla, a family child care provider and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 member in Riverside County. “Creating a California for All means we must support early childhood educators in our mission to close opportunity gaps for and the children and parents we serve. When our union is recognized at the bargaining table, we will put California in a stronger position to deliver the care every child deserves.”
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Child Care Providers United California (CCPU) is a union of family child care providers across the state who are members of SEIU Local 99, SEIU Local 521, and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930. AB 378 would allow family child care providers to negotiate with the state to improve their salaries and benefits and provide educators with a voice to improve the quality and accessibility.