There is so much going on with UDW-CCPU right now it is hard to keep up! Our movement of family child care providers has grown by thousands over the past few months and those added voices are making our call to fix California’s broken child care system impossible to ignore. We have the attention of state lawmakers, the media and, most importantly, the working parents with whom we are partnering to make childcare work better for providers–as well as for the families we serve.

Here are some of the exciting things that UDW-CCPU members have made happen in the past few weeks:

• After hearing from providers like us, The California Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education issued a draft report on March 11 that included recommending that the state support collective bargaining rights for family child care providers. (Collective bargaining basically means we providers would get to sit across the table from the state to negotiate things like reimbursement rates and licensing procedures. If you want to learn more about collective bargaining, here is a great resource.)

  This is a HUGE win for us. The Blue Ribbon Commission is the first legislative body to come out in support of our collective bargaining rights. The recommendation comes in no small part due to the many trips to Sacramento UDW-CCPU members have made over the past few years to attend hearings and share our experiences as providers with commission members. Some of our members will be quoted in the final report—stay tuned and we will share it with you when it comes out!

• On March 22, we got to show to give a lawmaker an up-close-and-personal provider experience. UDW-CCPU member Debbie Cook hosted Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes at her childcare in Corona. We called the event “Walk-a-Day”, as in we were asking Asm. Cervantes to “walk a day in our shoes.” Events like this are so important in helping us reach our goals; when lawmakers see how we work and the value that we bring to the lives of the children we care for, it is an experience they never forget. When it comes time for them to make decisions about issues that affect us, we are real people with real lives to them, not just nameless, faceless statistics. Visit our Flickr page to see great photos from Debbie’s Walk-a-Day!

• On April 1, our members were celebrated at the California Labor Federation legislative conference for the work we are doing. UDW-CCPU member Alicia Turner, one of the child care providers who spoke to the hundreds of union activists and leaders from around the state motivated everyone by quoting Cesar Chavez, “We are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and heart.” Go Alicia!

• On April 3, the Assembly’s labor committee voted in favor of AB 378, the bill we are sponsoring that, if passed by both houses and signed by the governor, would grant us our collective bargaining rights. Childcare providers filled the hearing room and took turns telling the legislators about the challenges we face and how collective bargaining would help us address them. The majority of the committee expressed strong support for family child care providers and we left the hearing walking on air and ready for the next step.

Talk about momentum! We are on a roll.

We are making progress, but we won’t stop until we get what we need: a childcare system where every family has access to affordable, high-quality child care and every child care provider has the compensation and support they need. Join us and get involved in our movement to build a better child care system in California!