Does bill benefit union over kids?

OLYMPIA — A union-backed bill moving through the Legislature could extend collective-bargaining rights to as many 12,000 child-care center owners and employees.

Under House Bill 2449, centers that care for at least one state-subsidized child could be eligible to join collective-bargaining units and negotiate with the governor over state payments, training requirements and access to health care and other benefits.

Employee wages would not be part of the negotiations, but increased state subsidies could lead to higher pay, proponents said. The state subsidizes child care for children whose family incomes are less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level — about $41,000 a year for a family of four.

The bill, which passed the House last week, is backed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest union in Washington, with more than 100,000 members statewide.

SEIU already represents about 10,000 state-paid family child-care providers who are licensed to take in no more than 12 children. The new bargaining group could include family child-care providers as well as owners and employees of larger child-care centers.

"This bill really is about raising quality of child care for kids in the centers," said Kim Cook, president of SEIU Local 925. "It's about raising resources for professional training and development, resources for decent wages ... ."

"This is a chance to raise the standards for the state of Washington," said Kari Koens, director and owner of Tomorrow's Future CDC, a child-care center in Mount Vernon. "If there are more people unionized, that will give us one strong voice for child-care centers."

Opponents, however, say the bill actually could hurt the quality of child care. They say state standards would become too monolithic, and costs could rise.

"SEIU is a credible union for service workers. It's not a good fit for the child-care industry," said Candi Doran, owner of Little Orca Learning Center in Mukilteo. "We strive to guarantee the safety of children. SEIU strives to guarantee the safety of service workers."

Should the bill pass, eligible child-care workers in each of the six regions of the state would take a vote. If a majority approves, then all the centers of that region would become part of a bargaining unit.

Opponents argue that a simple majority is easy to obtain and thus the bill becomes a mandate for unionization. Many child-care center owners have said they would stop accepting state-subsidized children so their workers would not be subject to the bill.

"It's like we're being held hostage," said Colleen Hill, owner of Country Kids Play House in Snohomish. "If we take state-paid kids, we will be forced to be unionized, and the state will be our boss."

Even some managers of centers that wouldn't be covered by the bill are opposed.

Centers that are part of a national organization or have 10 or more locations statewide are exempt from the bill. However, if the smaller centers refuse to take subsidized children, the operators of larger centers say they would have to pick up the slack.

"We think the impact will be systemwide," said YMCAs of Washington lobbyist Amy Bell. "Child-care centers won't accept subsidized children, and the kids that need care will be out on the streets."

Bell also said the legislation could drive up costs for parents who don't rely on state subsidies. If child-care centers unionize, one way to pay for higher expenses would be to raise the costs for people who pay full fees, Bell said.

"Centers don't want to end up doing that because the idea of raising private-pay costs would drive away their customers," she said.

Rep. Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle, the prime sponsor of the bill, said the state has a "window of opportunity" to improve child care through the legislation. "But that window can close. It can shut in a hurry," he said. "And if that's the case, the one group that I'm really worried about is the poorest of the poor."

Yu Nakayama: 360-236-8169 or ynakayama@seattletimes.com