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Indeed! This expansion by the SEIU to the smaller daycare providers is a next incremental step to take over the process entirely. It will put them into a strong position to pressure government and private companies to pay the tab.. using our children as a pry bar. I believe that the ultimate effort is nationalize the process of early childcare in a similar way as education and health care. Our county in Oregon passed a localized income tax for education recently that further burdened citizen; gluing both mother and father into the workforce away from the children. Each new $100 dollars of taxes separates parents from their children 5-10 hours. And as Momfirst rightly pointed out, Unionization removes the extended family nature from the relationship entirely.

Being a parent, I know how hard day care providers work. The ones that take care of my child are very good at what they do and work very hard. Their job is further complicated by trying to please everybody, including very protective and nurturing parents, all the time - an impossible task. So in my relationship with them, I give them a great deal of leeway in what they do.

(Side note - I want to clarify is that my wife and I put our little girl in day care for matters that are deeper than simply Luxury and Convenience. Where we could afford to live on only one of our incomes would threaten the short- and long-term Health, Safety, and Welfare of my daughter. On THAT we will not compromise. We have placed ourselves in such an environment/situation where we COULD live there on only one income, but only for a relatively short period of time.)

What it comes down to is how I feel about unions in general. It goes without saying that employers should manage their employees in an ethical and compassionate manner. Unions are, IMO, a result of misunderstanding between labor and management. Maybe I'm naive, but if each party could clearly understand the other, necessary give-and-take between them would be as a result of mutual respect, not as a result of legal mandate or "us against them." We're all in this capitalist system together, people. Let's compete with each other to be the best we can be, but let's also be team-builders in our daily actions.