We are closer than ever before to winning our union!
On Tuesday we got very disappointing news: Gov. Brown vetoed AB 101, a bill that would have given us a seat at the table to help improve our lives and the lives of the families we serve.
We have good reason to be disappointed. We worked hard this year; visiting legislators, standing together at rallies and getting our message into the media. We were joined by many prominent Californians who expressed their heartfelt support for the work we do. Also, we had faith in Gov. Brown, who in the past has supported women, and workers who were pushing to gain a stronger voice in the services they provide.
But the same reasons why we’re disappointed today are the reasons why we should be optimistic that we can get our bill passed in 2012. Because of our hard work, we are closer than we have ever been to winning the right to have our union. Our bill had the support of many influential people and legislators in California; even Gov. Brown had to acknowledge publicly in his veto message the importance of maintaining quality child care and good working conditions for providers.
These are all indications we are closer than we’ve ever been to winning, and we cannot and will not give up. Tuesday the governor walked away from an opportunity to do something about the struggles working families are facing–but walking away is a luxury we don’t have. Because we love the work we do, and because we face real difficulties every day for reasons that aren’t necessary–things that can be corrected and improved–we will continue to push until we are successful.
Every day we see the need to advocate for affordability and quality–we see the faces of parents who are cut off from assistance or struggle to pay family fees. We know the stories of parents who can’t find or afford quality child care for their children. And we know providers in other states have a track record of addressing these concerns, which tell us it can be done in California as well. We know our state budget is in bad shape–we saw more than 35,000 children lose child care access earlier this year–but we also know the way out of this crisis is to put Californians back to work, and that’s going to take strong child care services.
This is a fight we are in together. The governor needs to know we won’t go away; that in 2012 we will come back stronger than ever before. He has to understand that vetoing our bill was a bad move, not just for us, but for all of California. His decision to veto our bill hurts our economy and helps prevent the families we work with from getting the quality affordable child care they need.
We can take heart in the struggle home healthcare workers had in California on the way to winning their union some years ago. The first time they tried to win an organizing bill under Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, he vetoed the bill. The following year they came back more publicly and stronger than the year before, and Gov. Davis had no choice but to sign the bill and they won their union.
This can be us in 2012. Gov. Brown is starting to understand some of the problems we are facing–in the coming months we must make sure he knows the cost of not taking action to fix child care is just too great. We need to reach out to community, religious and other groups which know we are the bedrock of our communities and come back more united than ever before to tell Gov. Brown California’s working families are counting on him to be the champion we need.
We will be here as long as it takes to win a stronger voice for working families in California. We have no other option.
“I know we’ve only gotten stronger with our efforts during this past year. We can’t give up; we must keep pushing in 2012. We’re facing a Goliath of a fight. We have to keep the faith, stay courageous and just look for the right stone that will bring down Goliath.”
– Alana Lewis, provider from Pasadena
