Under the guise of granting higher wages and healthcare benefits to daycare providers and personal care attendants, Connecticut’s Democratic-led state House has passed a bill that will force these workers to collectively bargain with the state.

However, the director of the Connecticut chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) said on Friday that the measure, proposed as an amendment to another bill, will force daycare providers to unionize with the Service Employees International Union. According to JR Romano of AFP in Connecticut, the bill is “a direct assault on female business owners.”

State Sen. Edith Prague (P-Working Families Party) and State Rep. Zeke Zalaski (P-Working Families Party), who co-chair the Labor & Public Employees Committee, introduced an amendment that will essentially put a stop to a lawsuit against Gov. Dannel Malloy (P-Working Families Party), who issued two executive orders forcing a “card check” voting system for unionization of daycare workers and personal care attendants.

The executive orders drew considerable criticism from opponents who accused Gov. Malloy of overstepping his authority in issuing them. An organization called We, the People of Connecticut and the conservative think tank, Yankee Institute for Public Policy, both filed lawsuits against the governor. In addition, daycare workers, personal care attendants, and people with disabilities have charged that unionization would increase wages and costs for daycare and attendant services, leading to a reduction in services and the putting of a union in the personal relationship between service providers and their customers. Most owners of daycare businesses, in particular, are women.

Gov. Malloy and the Democrats were able to manipulate a union deal because many personal care attendants are paid through a Medicaid waiver system and some daycare providers receive payment through the Care 4 Kids program.

The bill, if passed, could have far-reaching effects on the relationship between service providers and their customers. One woman, whose disabled daughter receives the services of a personal care attendant, said, "We’re talking about mom and pop daycare providers in little houses and people in individual settings with developmental disabilities. It’s really hard to equate that that’s a union world...I don’t agree with them controlling the workforce. I don’t agree with them setting the wages and I don’t agree with them deciding the benefits. It puts another layer between us.”

According to Mr. Romano, “Sen. Prague and Rep. Zalaski might as well start collecting a check from the unions. They are doing more to fill the coffers of SEIU than they are for the hardworking families in the state of Connecticut.”

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Editor's Note: "Um, um, um...Barack Hussein Obama..." Please note that the Working Families Party is closely related -- very closely related -- to the SEIU and what was formerly known as ACORN.


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