California child care providers reach contract with state, secure 15% minimum pay raise
More than 40,000 California child care providers will get at least a 15% pay raise starting in 2022 through their first-ever collective bargaining agreement, a union representing them said late Friday.
The contract between the Child Care Providers United and the state will give tens of thousands of child care workers their first pay increase in five years, as well as money for more providers to be licensed, the union said in a press release announcing the agreement.
The agreement, which will soon go to the providers for ratification, also removes a major sticking point in legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s negotiation over the state’s budget. California has until July 1 to pass its budget.
“The collective bargaining agreement marks a new chapter in providers’ decades-long fight for fair pay and recognition for their pivotal role in early brain development, closing opportunity gaps faced by children of color, and leveling the playing field for working women,” the union said in its release.
As part of the contract, the state will increase its subsidies to reflect the latest cost of providing child care — California currently uses an estimate from 2016 to calculate the rates. The state will also provide an additional $289 million in a supplemental fund to ensure all providers get at least a 15% pay increase.
The state will also provide $40 million for training and education. As part of the contract, workers and state officials will meet in committees to figure out how to provide benefits such as paid time off, retirement and health insurance, according to the union.
The union, whose members provide child care out of their homes and receive subsidies from the state, has been bargaining with the state since its creation nearly a year ago.
The union said the pandemic forced thousands of providers, who on average made $12 an hour as of 2019, to close. California has agreed to give each provider thousands of dollars in a stipend for weathering the pandemic, but the union had urged California to permanently increase its subsidy for its members, saying doing so is necessary to prevent more of them from shutting their doors.
Dozens of legislators had pressured the state to increase its subsidy for the providers. They noted that while Newsom proposed funding for an additional 100,000 child care slots, doing so would be a “misguided attempt” without providing providers a “living wage.”
“This budget ask is more than just a numerical change in dollars for workers,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said at the union’s press conference Thursday. “It means a qualitative difference for them and the children they care for.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2021 at 6:12 PM with the headline "California child care providers reach contract with state, secure 15% minimum pay raise."
