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December 10, 2007

Numbers game | Melanie Collins is one of 790 child-care workers in Maine who recently voted to unionize

Last summer, when organizers were reaching out to home-based day cares to gather support for a new union that could represent independent child-care providers in Maine, Melanie Collins didn't need any persuading. As a former nurse, she had seen firsthand the benefits unions provide medical workers, from improving the work environment to ensuring adequate pay. "I'm very pro union," she says.

Collins, a 43-year-old mother of two, has been offering child care in her Falmouth home for eight years. During that time, she says her business, Melanie's Child Care, has had to abide by a growing list of regulations, all passed down by a Legislature that was not hearing much from child caretakers. "Nobody was representing child-care workers in Augusta," she says.

But that will likely change now that Collins and 789 others who provide day care services out of their homes voted Oct. 22 to push for a union for the nearly 2,200 providers in Maine. Collins helped out by calling voters to come out to support the union. And though the state government still needs to approve the union, Collins is already anticipating how the labor group could help shape future rules that affect her business.

Maine would also join 10 other states that have allowed child-care unions, although only three so far have adopted statewide contracts in the past two years. Maine's union would be part of the Maine State Employees Association, which is linked to the 1.9-million-member Service Employees International Union.

On an overcast afternoon two days before Thanksgiving, Collins was taking care of three children and her own seven-year old, Henry. In between offering two kids some crackers and keeping an eye on their button-stringing project, Collins described her hopes for the union. "We can now take [an issue] to the union people and get legislative rules made that are doable for child-care workers," she says.

For instance, after a three-year-old drowned in a pool at a child-care facility in Westbrook last spring, the state passed new rules requiring day cares to have a trained attendant on hand for all pools — even shallow wading pools.

And beyond easing rules, Collins says there are numerous other ways she says the state could support independent child-care workers, who help create a viable economy by allowing parents with young children to work. Nearly 17,000 children in Maine attend home-based child centers. Collins looks after 20 children — but only up to six at a time — at a rate of $6.50 an hour, and parents have to bring diapers and food. After expenses last year, Collins says she earned less than $10,000. "I've got to love it for that much money."

Collins points out that negotiating for more affordable liability, health and disability insurance premiums would be easier with a union. "If you throw your back out now, too bad," she says.

She also points out that a tax break for child-care providers would help, too. Not only would lower taxes be a boost for those working in the industry, but Collins says the state could give parents heftier tax write-offs. "People need affordable child care," she says.
Other creative propositions a union could get behind include forgiving student loans for child-care workers or allocating more funds for food programs. The union also could invite legislators to spend a few hours at a child-care center to better understand providers' needs.

"The union is a place where we can collectively brainstorm," Collins says. "We might be able to come up with solutions that are affordable, not only for the state but to get more income for child-care providers."

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