California child care workers rally to demand pay raise

Amid ongoing budget negotiations, hundreds of members of Child Care Providers United held a march and rally at the California State Capitol Thursday calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to negotiate a contract for better pay for family child care providers. Brandishing yellow roses to deliver to state leaders and flanked by small children, child care workers tried to draw attention to the ongoing crisis in their industry. 

The labor union, which represents about 40,000 child care workers across the state, staged a press conference featuring labor leaders, SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry and AFSCME International President Lee Saunders, as well as Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount.

“With a record surplus and a system on the verge of collapse, now is not the time to pinch pennies,” said Johanna Puno Hester, vice-chair of Child Care Providers United.

Though child care providers have long grappled with low wages and high costs, the pandemic has made matters worse, forcing many providers to shut down. Squeezed by escalating costs and Covid risks, many child care providers are leaving the workforce for better paying jobs, which can be found in the fast-food industry. 

“Our pay is too low,” said Annette Nicholson, a child care provider in Stockton for the last 14 years. “From the day I started in the child care business to now, I have seen no meaningful increase in our wages. After expenses, I am lucky to make minimum wage.”

State legislators recently proposed reforms to the state’s subsidy system that would raise child care provider rates. The legislature’s proposal would raise the reimbursement rate to 85% of the 2018 regional market cost, up from 75% of the 2015 rate, where it has long remained. But the issue has become a sticking point in budget negotiations with the governor, experts say.