Organizing Update

NJ Child Care Workers Vote CWA

Workers at La Casa de Don Pedro's Early Childhood Division in Newark voted overwhelmingly to join CWA Local 1037 in an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.

The group includes teachers, assistant teachers, administrative assistants, receptionists, drivers, family workers, janitors, cooks, substitutes, and wraparound staff.

They are joining the 1,000 child care providers and 10,000 other workers already represented by CWA Local 1037.

A strong internal committee led the organizing effort from the start. After workers demanded recognition using a mission statement signed by the majority of the workgroup, they stuck together right through to today's election, said District 1 Organizing Coordinator Anne Luck-Deak.

"I'm so proud of my colleagues for standing in solidarity to build our union," said Diane Gonzalez, who works at La Casa de Don Pedro's Broadway location. "Now the real work begins. As we move into contract negotiations, we will fight to improve our wages and working conditions, and we will fight to expand resources for the child care services we provide and improve the learning conditions for the children in our classrooms. This is a victory for us and it is a victory for the families we serve."

The union organizing effort at La Casa grew out of the Better Beginnings campaign – a partnership between New Jersey Communities United and CWA – which seeks to organize child care professionals, working parents, and early childhood development specialists around fights for expanded resources and increased funding for early childhood development. NJCU is a progressive, grassroots community organization committed to building power for low and moderate income people, predominantly in Newark.

The lead organizers on the La Casa organizing and the Better Beginnings campaign are Fareeda Mabry, CWA; and Leah Owens, NJCU. Also supporting the organizing effort were: Luck-Deak; Trina Scordo, Executive Director, NJCU; Ken McNamara, president, CWA Local 1037; Paul Karr, communications director for Local 1037/NJCU; Roberto Cabanas, Lead Organizer, NJCU, and Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ Area Director.