When the Trump administration announced cuts that would make child care less affordable for working families, AFSCME members across the country stood up to protect the children in their care.
“These children and these families are already the most vulnerable population in our community and without vital support, these families would not thrive,” said Miren Algorri, a child care educator and member of United Domestic Workers (UDW/AFSCME Local 3930) in California. “Child care, I believe, is a human right. Funding for child care should be the No. 1 priority.”
As billionaires demand tax cuts and anti-labor politicians attack the rights of workers, it takes a strong union voice to speak on behalf of the parents who need child care and the workers who deliver that care.
AFSCME members provide that voice on the front lines of the child care crisis.
“It’s important to speak up and fight for child care because if we don’t do it, we’ll lose it,” said Armett Newman, a child care educator with CSEA (AFSCME Local 1000) in New York. “At the end of the day, everyone suffers, us as providers, the children, the families.”
Keeping child care accessible to all working families is essential to a healthy economy. The union difference is making sure every working parent has a trusted child care provider within reach, and that those providers have the resources they need to keep their doors open.
“Unionizing, having bargaining rights, that’s how we get the recognition that we deserve,” Algorri said.
AFSCME paid tribute to child care providers in a special video that aired during AFSCME’s 47th International Convention in Chicago. AFSCME child care workers are a bridge for families, the bedrock of our communities and the engine of our economy.
