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| Date: | September 14, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Peter Winiecki | | Contact Phone: | 651-297-8077 | | Contact Email: | peter.winiecki@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| HOWE OPPOSES UNIONIZING IN-HOME DAYCARE PROVIDERS |
Red Wing – Senator John Howe (R-Red Wing) has sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton opposing the idea of mandatory union membership for Minnesota’s in-home day care providers.
The unionization of these providers has been a long-time goal of both the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). These groups have asked Dayton to issue an executive order that would unilaterally recognize the unions as representatives of the more than 11,000 day care providers in Minnesota. In his letter, Howe expressed his strong opposition to the idea.
“Forcing providers into compulsory union membership via executive order is an inherently unfair, undemocratic tactic, and I strongly urge you to reject the idea,” Howe wrote to Dayton. “I have spoken with a number of day care providers in my district, and the vast majority of them want nothing to do with union representation.”
Howe, a member of the Senate Jobs and Economic Growth committee, said Minnesota’s day care providers are providing high-quality care to the children they care for, and like other small businesses, they can suffer from too much government involvement in their industry.
“These providers are wonderful examples of entrepreneurship and free enterprise, leveraging their time and talent to provide high-quality care for children, along with an income for themselves and their families,” Howe wrote. “They want to be left alone to continuing doing the amazing work they do, which is to provide high-quality care for the children and families they serve.”
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