After close to two decades of organizing and legislative struggle, tens of thousands of early childhood educators and home day-care proprietors will vote this month on whether to unionize, a move many hope will reinvigorate California’s ailing child-care system in a moment of unprecedented crisis for millions of working families.
“People need to understand, we’re not any regular union,” said Zoila Carolina Toma, a longtime organizer with Child Care Providers United, which could soon represent home-based child-care workers in negotiations with the state. “We’re not just fighting for us as workers; we’re also fighting for our children’s future.”