Written Testimony Against Childcare Unionization – SF 778

Dear Chairwoman Pappas, Ranking Member Hall, and Members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee,

Thank you for accepting this written testimony and for your concern for families in childcare and the providers that care for them.  I am submitting this testimony as President of Education Liberty Watch, which is also a part of the Childcare Freedom Coalition.

We oppose this legislation for the following reasons:

1)      This bill abrogates the First Amendment right of freedom of assembly  – It will force small businesses that are run predominantly run by women or family members taking care of sick or elderly relatives  to unionize against their will or to pay fair share fees.

2)      Increased costs for working families – Providers will be forced to pass along the increased costs of union dues or fair share fees to their clients or in the case of home care providers caring for their own family members, have to absorb these increased costs when premiums, taxes on medical devices, etc. are increasing, the economy is still struggling and unemployment is still higher than it should be.

3)      Decreased choice, especially for families receiving subsidies – If taking children who receive any kind of childcare subsidy, including the proposed Early Childhood Scholarships, or hiring any kind of homecare provider results in unionization, many of these small business owners will cease to take these children or provide care for these sick people  – analogous to what is happening with  the Affordable Care Act and doctors not being able to afford to care for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

4)      Politically unpopular across a wide spectrum – This is not popular even among Democrats!! KSTP/Survey USA poll from 2011: “Should daycare workers in the state of Minnesota form labor unions and be considered as public employees?” 68% or survey respondents said no, with only 19% in favor of the idea. Opposition was the majority opinion across all noted demographics, including political affiliation. 73% of Republicans opposed the plan as well as 60% of Democrats and 70% of independents. (See the poll results at Survey USA, especially Question 3 at http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=98e06008-a002-4bda-b2dc-d5093903734a). Many states that have had unionization laws have repealed them.  Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat governor of the, or one of the most liberal states in the nation, vetoed a childcare unionization bill.  When Minnesota House Democrats had the opportunity to vote to amend the unionization vote legislation into a bill, even Democrat legislators voted overwhelmingly against it. The vote on that was 16 in favor (all DFL members) to 114 opposed. (See House Journal, page 9336 at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cco/journals/2011-12/J0428112.htm#9336)

5)      This could lead to teacher evaluations for preschool teachers and providers – As with unionized teachers dealing with the Common Core standards and their evaluations based on those standards and test results in K-12, even pro union childcare providers may not like all of the bureaucracy and loss of autonomy from being turned into teachers and assessors of young children having to teach, assess and be rated by one set of government mandated standards  as the use of Parent Aware spreads across the state.

Thank you again for your consideration of our views in this important issue.