WHEREAS:
There is a need for affordable, quality child care for our members and families all across the country; and

WHEREAS:
In a 2009 AFSCME Survey, it was found that 78 percent of members who were either married or domestic partnered and 10 percent of all single parents had children 18 years of age and younger living at home; and

WHEREAS:
33 percent of New York District Council 37’s 125,000 members are estimated to be single parents and 25,000 members have children below the age of 13; and

WHEREAS:
AFSCME has members who are working for providers of childcare; and

WHEREAS:
City and state spending on child care has decreased; and

WHEREAS:
The New York Central Labor Council Child Care Committee (including D.C. 37 and D.C. 1707) recently sponsored and completed a study with employers entitled, “Working Parents for a Working New York.” It documented the positive effects of child care subsidies on families; and

WHEREAS:
A new study was released in January, 2010, entitled, “Strengthening New York’s Businesses in Early Care and Education” that documented the positive effects of child care on job creation, businesses and the economy in New York State; and

WHEREAS:
In most European countries, child care for working parents is more readily available and productivity in those countries has been enhanced by child care; and

WHEREAS:
A recent study showed that early learning gained from pre-school child care generated roughly $4 for every $1 invested, decreased behavioral problems and crime, and increased productivity and academic achievement; and

WHEREAS:
There are long waiting lists in parts of the country for families to gain access to affordable child care because demand has outstripped supply; and

WHEREAS:
The New York Central Labor Council Child Care Coalition won state funding for facilitated enrollment projects that provide subsidies for hundreds of working families throughout the city; and

WHEREAS:
D.C. 37 activists at Bellevue Hospital worked with management, the Hospital Community Board and a non-profit provider to build a 24 hour childcare center for employees, patients and the community that is staffed by unionized employees who are members of DC 1707; and

WHEREAS:
In New York City, AFSCME is represented by nearly 6,000 members of Day Care Employees Local 205, which has represented more than 350 center-based day care centers for more than 35 years. These centers are now being threatened by the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city’s most notorious anti-union mayor.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME and its affiliates will initiate and support legislation that calls for increasing and updating both the subsidy levels and subsidy salary ceilings so as to make sure a larger portion of our membership and the public become eligible for subsidized child care; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME and its affiliates continue to initiate and support legislation that calls for increased child-care subsidies to needy recipients in “welfare to work” programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME and its affiliates will initiate and support legislation that calls for increasing the availability of subsidized child-care centers and independent child care providers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME and its affiliates will support and, where possible, work by legislation, collective bargaining and/or in coalitions to construct child-care centers on work sites and in communities near worksites and seek ways to work with existing providers to expand their centers into worksites, including providing 24-hour services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME and its affiliates will work in such coalitions with the understanding that staffing for such centers and independent providers be unionized, of the highest quality, and fairly compensated in comparison with unionized elementary education personnel; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME will support the efforts of members who work in child care to secure fair contracts and maintain adequate staffing and to prevent closure of high-quality, unionized centers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME will support the efforts of independent child care providers to secure fair contracts, fair rates and the respect this profession deserves; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: 
That AFSCME seek to initiate studies with other groups to study the effects of childcare on the children, families, job creation and business; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED: 
That we work in coalitions with those in need, other unions, politicians, advocacy groups, our work institutions and providers of child care in order to fulfill our needs for affordable, quality child care.

SUBMITTED BY: 
Ralph Palladino, 2nd Vice President and Delegate 
Alma Roper, Executive Vice-President and Delegate 
AFSCME Local 1549, Council 37 
New York

Mabel Everett, President
Rose McCuller, Secretary
AFSCME Local 205, Council 1707
New York