Child care often is thought of as full-time day care provided for preschool children, but working parents also need care for school-age children before and after school, backup care for sick children or in emergency situations, and care for children during evenings, weekends, holidays, summer vacations and when the parents are working non-standard hours. Changes in the workforce in the last 30 years have made the need for child care critical:

• Child care is a necessity for working parents: 42 percent of workers have responsibility for children younger than 18.

• More women are working outside the home: In 1991, 60 percent of women with children younger than six and more than three-fourths of women with school-age kids were working outside the home. In 1992, 54 percent of women with children younger than one were in the workforce.

• Reliable, affordable, high-quality child care is hard to find: 62 percent of working parents say that their main problem with child care is finding high-quality care.

• More than 14 million people who work hours other than 9 to 5 have particular difficulty finding child care. For example, in California, only 2 percent of childcare centers and less than a third of licensed family child care homes provide care during evenings, weekends and overnight.

Child Care Bargaining Strategies

Strategy 1: Resource and referral. Finding high-quality, reliable, affordable care can be very difficult for working parents. Resource and referral services can help match employees with appropriate and available child care providers, taking into consideration the special needs of each family. An employer may contract with an outside agency or handle referrals in-house. Resource and referral services also can help develop child care resources in an area if no appropriate child care exists.

Resource and Referral Contract Example
IBEW Local 1245 bargained with PG&E to establish a Child Care Resource and Referral Program, available to all employees. The program helps parents find the right solution for their specific needs: a child care center in their community, an in-house caregiver or a child care provider for sick children. The program provides a child care referral hot-line and information to help employees evaluate caregivers. (international Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 and Pacific Gas & Electric)

Strategy 2: Child care tax programs and funds.

• Tax Programs: A dependent Care Assistance Plan (DCAP) or Flexible Spending Account allows workers to set aside up to $5,000 of their earnings in a tax-free account to pay for child care or elder care. The only cost to the employer for this IRS plan is its administration.

• Child Care Fund: Child care funds offset the high cost of child care. A childcare fund provides reimbursement for child care expenses or payment directly to a child care provider.

Strategy 3: Providing child care (centers, networks of family day care homes and subsidized slots). Unions have negotiated for on-site and off-site child care centers, subsidized slots in existing centers, and networks of family day care homes. Setting up a child care center is a costly and time-consuming process. Before negotiating for a child care center, be sure to consider the needs of your members: Do they prefer in-home or center care? Are they willing to drive to an off-site center? What shifts do they work? Are their children preschool age? If your union does decide to develop a center, other important questions include:

• Will the center be non-profit or for-profit?

• Will the center be funded through employer contributions, parent fees or an-other source?

• Who will assume responsibility for liability?

• Who will manage and operate the center: labor, management, a joint commit-tee or an outside contractor?

• What will child care workers in the center be paid? Will they receive health and other benefits? Be members of a union?

On-Site Child Care Center Contract Example
AFSCME, PEF and UUP negotiated with the State of New York to develop the Empire State Child Care Network, which included 50 on-site child care centers serving children of state employees in 1991. A Labor/Management Child Care Advisory Committee administers a fund($9.5 million in 1988-1991) to set up non-profit centers and to support and expand the network of centers. Families are charged on a sliding scale for use of the services. Some centers also provide kindergarten, summer and after-school care for school-age children. (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Public Employees Federation, Union of University Professors and the State of New York)

In-Home Child Care Contract Example
CAW bargained with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors for a Child Care Fund that funds both extended-hour child care centers and a network of family day care homes for shift workers who want their children in a more home-like setting. The employers contribute four cents per hour worked. A non-profit agency set up by the CAW directly employs the child care providers, who receive benefits including paid vacation and sick time, health care, pension and overtime pay.(Canadian Autoworkers Union and Chrysler, Ford and General Motors)

Strategy 4: Backup and sick child care. Backup care can be provided for mildly sick children, on days when normal care arrangements fall through or in other unusual situations such as snow days. Parents of school-age children may need child care during summer vacations and on holidays. Backup care can be provided through a special program, such as employer subsidies for in-home care or a backup center, or by allowing parents to use their sick time to care for sick children.

Sick and Emergency Child Care Contract Example
SEIU Locals 535, 616 and 790 negotiated a fund with Alameda County to provide emergency reimbursement for parents whose children are mildly sick or who, for some other emergency reason, are unable to use their regular care provider. Employees receive reimbursement for 90percent of up to $80 a day, to a maximum of $350 a year. The employer also provides resource and referral services for families who need sick or emergency care. (Alameda County Employees Labor Coalition/Service Employees International Union Locals 535, 616 and 790 and Alameda County, California)

Holiday Child Care Contract Example
CWA and [BEW bargained with Bell Atlantic to establish a $1.3 million Development Fund that funds such programs as Kids in the Workplace. This program offers on-site child care while parents are at work for five- to 12-year-old children who are on school holidays. The program provides care at 15 sites on a first-come, first-served basis as of the 1996-1997 school year.(Communications Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Bell Atlantic)

Sick Time for Sick Children Contract Example
The IUOE Local 564 negotiated a donated leave policy with Texas Dow, under which employees may use five of their personal sick leave days to care for an ill or injured spouse or child. Employees may use these days in half-day increments. (international Union of Operating Engineers Local 564 and Texas Dow)

Strategy 5: Extended hours/before- and after-school care. Many working parents need child care before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m., including before- and after-school hours and during extended hours when parents are working shifts.

Extended Hours/Before- and After-School Care Contract Example
The UAW worked with businesses in Tonawanda, N.Y., to create a child care consortium. The consortium developed day care programs that are available in the daytime, before and after school and during holidays and vacations. The Consortium also has an emergency backup telephone network to provide care for families whose regular provider becomes unavailable.(United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America and the Tonawanda Business Community Child Care Consortium)

For More Information
The Labor Project for Working Families
IIR, 2521 Channing Way #5555
Berkeley, CA 94720510-643-6814
website: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/-iir/workfam/home.html

The AFL-CIO Working Women's Department
815 16th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 637-5064
website: http://www.aflcio.org

This fact sheet was prepared by the Labor Project for Working Families and theAFL-CIO Working Women's Department.