CRITICAL CORRECTIONS

March 7, 2008

 

Dear Providers,

Recently you may have received a letter from Service Employee’s International Union (SEIU) that was dated on February 25, 2008 and written by Sue Bull, Director of Child Care and Community Affairs

I would like to inform you of a few incorrect details in that letter.

First, the letter states that on March 7, 2008 a meeting will be held between SEIU, the Governor’s representatives and 12 providers to begin “negotiations for your first collective bargaining agreement”.

The courts haven’t determined whether the Governor had the authority to issue the Executive Order. Even if the courts decide that he did, the Executive Order limited the terms over which the union could meet and confer to terms of participation in Purchase of Care Program (POC). The stated goals of the March 7th meeting exceed even the authority given by the questionable Executive Order.  They don’t have any authority to discuss training and licensing.

Secondly, on Monday February 17th a meeting was scheduled between SEIU and MSDE representatives for Wednesday February 19th, but on Tuesday February 18th, SEIU picketed MSDE and got full media coverage.  Does this really show a commitment to dialogue on SEIU’s part? 

Thirdly, the new payment system for POC went into effect in late February 2007 and by late March 2007, POC payments were a mess.  The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) immediately implemented the help line at that time, and it has been in operation ever since.  They had a meeting of stakeholders attended by MSFCCA and SEIU in mid-April, followed by roundtable meetings around the state over the next several months, but they were poorly attended because by May and June, most providers’ problems had been resolved and they didn’t see any need to attend.  However, any providers still having problems should call the help phone line which is (886)243-8796 or email contact poc.help@msde.state.md.us.

MSDE has had an ongoing dialogue with the Early Care and Education community, and MSDE informed SEIU that any future meetings would include all stakeholders.  The union agreed to their terms, but then Sue Bull refused to allow other stakeholders to participate in the March 7th meeting even though the Governor’s office was not opposed to the idea.

If SEIU is about developing collaborative solutions with MSDE, what were the SIEU pickets doing on February 18th? If SEIU is about “inclusion of other child care provider advocates who care about these issues”, why weren’t advocates allowed to attend the March 7th meeting?

MSFCCA works extremely hard to ensure that you receive timely and correct information that could affect your child care business and the children in your care. We look forward to your continued support. Feel free to contact me or visit our website at www.msfcca.org.

Sincerely,
Donna Fowler
Director of Public Policy
MSFCCA
443-742-8403
harvestingminds@comcast.net