Portside

Some 40,000 child-care workers across the state will receive a 15 percent raise in their new contract. The contract settlement coincided with a state budget agreement to fund 200,000 child-care slots over five years.

In a union election victory 17 years in the making, 40,000 child care providers in California have voted overwhelmingly to be represented by their union, Child Care Providers United (CCPU). This was a joint effort of AFSCME and SEIU.

After more than a decade of fighting for the right to bargain for better pay, California child care providers have started voting on whether to unionize.

Child care workers in California plan to file for a massive union election Wednesday that will cover an estimated 40,000 people, potentially reshaping jobs within the state’s government-funded child care system for low-income families.