CCPU members voted in our new contract. What’s next? Making our voices heard on the true cost of providing quality child care. The contract we won in 2025 gives us a seat at the table in a Joint Labor Management Committee – a pathway to continue fighting to secure payment that covers our full costs. It’s up to all of us to make these recommendations reality!
Over the last month, child care providers from across California came together to make recommendations to the State, sharing our expertise from living, working, and serving communities that count on care. We made it clear: The families we serve need access to consistent and dependable care and in order to provide that, we need fair pay, and pay that’s consistent and on time. Standing together, we made a clear demand: pay for our work must be in line with our vital role in lifting up the fourth largest economy in the world.
Here’s our bottom line:
- Payment rates that reflect the FULL cost of providing care
- Uniform age groupings across all child care subsidy programs which will ultimately increase provider pay
- Rates that ensure extra pay once a family exceeds 40 hours of care per week based on certified need
- Rates that account for higher costs in all hours outside of 7am-6pm on weekday
- Transportation mileage reimbursement and pay for time spent transporting children
Our recommendations give us a roadmap for 2026 and beyond. We are clear what we are fighting for, because we know the children and families we care for are counting on us to stabilize the child care system. We can only realize these recommendations if we show up united to call for change.
Starting in January, there will be opportunities to join us in Sacramento to make our voices heard. That’s when the legislature starts to set the year’s budget priorities, and the time state leaders need to hear from us about what’s at stake. Growing our union builds our power. Click here to contact your local organizer to get involved.
You can view the recommendations in their entirety here.
