A new union of home daycare workers has voted to ratify a negotiated contract with the state that includes four years of pay raises.
The union includes about 4,100 home daycare providers whose pay is subsidized by the government’s Care 4 Kids program, which helps pay child care expenses for low- and moderate-income families. They were one of two groups of workers who unionized under a process begun by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2011 and completed by legislative action in 2012.
Last month SEA/SEIU LOCAL 2001 announced it had reached an agreement with the Malloy administration that represented the first pay increase that child care workers paid under the Care 4 Kids program have received in 12 years.
Under the contract, licensed daycare workers will see their general rates increase 12 percent over four years. The pay of unlicensed workers will rise based on the recent hike in the minimum wage.
According to a press release from the union, workers have ratified the agreement in a near-unanimous vote.
“This transformational contract is not only good for the providers and the children they serve, but for the taxpayers who will now see children ready to learn when they head off to school,” Patrice Peterson, CSEA president, said in a statement.
The contract will now go before the legislature for approval. When it’s in place, the contract will be effective from July 2013 to June 30, 2017.
