"Keep your promises": Child care providers rally in Sacramento for fair pay as state contract expires
SACRAMENTO -- At the front door of the Governor's Mansion in downtown Sacramento, childcare providers held a candlelight vigil to rally for better pay Thursday night — the second time this month the Child Care Providers United union has gathered in protest.
Last week, they rallied at the California State Capitol. With just days left before their union contracts with the state expire, they mobilized once again.
"We are literally living paycheck to paycheck," said Sacramento child care provider Charlotte Neal.
They've long advocated that the state's rate reimbursement policies are failing them. They want Gov. Gavin Newsom to hear this message.
"Keep your promises. Stand on your word. Be a man of integrity. Child care providers deserve it," said Neal.
The main thing they are advocating for is to be reimbursed 100% for the total cost of caring for lower-income, state-subsidized families. Right now, the union says they're only being reimbursed less than one-third of that cost, which can be a major financial burden.
"We could have a better, liveable wage. We could pay our bills. Our workers that are our assistants make more money than us. We are barely getting by," said Neal.
That trickles down to parents searching for child care.
"It's taking a lot longer to find affordable care than ever before," said Mary Ignatius, the executive director of Parent Voices California.
This is making it both harder to find and more expensive.
"The wages have been so depressed these providers can't afford to take families who have subsidized childcare. So families are going door to door, looking for care but providers can't afford to serve them," said Ignatius.
The union says the state has yet to put forth a just and fair contract offer.
"With just eight days before their current contract expires, child care providers struggling to survive on poverty wages do not have the luxury of time. Until the Governor produces a contract that pays providers fairly and treats them with the respect they deserve, we will continue to make our presence known in the state's capital, reminding lawmakers and the governor that California runs on child care," said Max Arias, Chair of CCPU.
