Child care collective bargaining debate: Will it lead to higher quality? Or is state worker bargaining a failed experiment?

This morning, the House re-passed a bill that would allow certain child care workers the right to unionize.

The arguments summed up: Reps. Pettigrew and Goodman (and others) said allowing child care workers to unionize will increase the reimbursement rate so that it more closely reflects the costs of providing child care. They each said that would, in turn, improve the level of care and, for that reason, the bill is an important part of early childhood education and closing the achievement gap before it opens up.

But Reps. Anderson, Condotta and Chandler (among others) said the bill would only lead to the state having less control over its own budget. Rep. Condotta said the experiment of allowing state workers to unionize was coming to an end because it has only lead to more unsustainable budgets over time.

I’ll post the whole debate in a bit when it’s available.

Tags: child care unionization