Union For Child-Care Workers?

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

April 12, 1999 / 1:52 PM EDT / CBS

Child care can be a daily struggle. "You're not just the care giver to the children, you're the janitor, the cook, the bookkeeper," said care provider Marge Hauptman.

"We constantly say we put children first but when it comes to the budget, the children are always last. And the people that service the children are always last," Hauptman said.

Like Hauptman, most child-care workers, even in centers, make less than $8 an hour. One-third of those hired by centers are on welfare. And, one-third will quit their jobs every year. That all adds up to children losing out, reports CBS News Correspondent Diana Olick.

Denise Dowell of the United Child Care Union said, "We believe that through unionizing the workforce, we can best ensure that dollars are going into improving jobs, which is the best way to improve the quality of care."

Thelma Peake, who runs a large day-care center, said she hopes a union will force the government to subsidize higher wages and, in turn, make her workers take more pride in their jobs.

"Motivating a child to open up to a lifetime of learning is very, very difficult and it takes a lot of training to do that," said Peake.

Low pay also translates into high turnover, which studies show is bad for children.

"Child care is important. Child care is a reality. And child care is expensive," said Fred Citron, a 19-year veteran in the field.

Citron agrees there is a problem but he isn't sure a union is the answer. "I think the adversarial relationship that generally comes with unionization could also really put a test to us," said Citron.

In the end, a union may be a hard sell. It could raise costs for parents, if the government won't pay for higher wages. But the status quo, supporters say, is already costing children far too much.