Meet Us
We’re family child care providers like you. We’d like to share our stories with you. And we invite you to share your story as well. Click on any of the names below to meet some of the family providers who are organizing with UFT Providers.
About Us
Who Are UFT Providers?
We are the thousands of family child care providers in New York City who have decided to fight back. After two years of struggle, we voted in Fall 2007 to join the United Federation of Teachers, the largest education union in the city. We are now official union members, but our fight continues. We’re fighting for a contract and for respect! We want to improve our wages! Our benefits! Our opportunities!
Click here to download our brochure. (900k)
See a gallery of photographs of our activities over the last year.
Why Unionize?
Family child care providers work in isolated settings with very little support. More than 28,000 licensed, registered, and legally-exempt (not licensed) home daycare providers in New York City provide a crucial service to low-income families but are unfairly compensated. The subsidy rates we receive hover near the poverty line and are not dependent upon the actual number of hours worked.
- While wages remain low, providers also do not have health insurance, pension benefits, vacation or sick leave.
- Quality ongoing professional development opportunities often are unaffordable. The 30 hours of classes required of licensed providers do not fully meet their development needs.
- Providers have out-of-pocket expenses for such things as diapers, toys and books that they often are unable to recoup.
- Providers are not given any financial assistance to bring apartments up to new fire code safety standards.
Now that we have our union we are beginning to see changes, but there is a lot of work to be done and it will not happen overnight. We still need to fight - and we need your help! Get involved with the UFT Home Day Care Provider chapter today!