AFSCME Defends N.Y.C. Public Child Care

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.standforpublicservice.org/blog/afscme-defends-n-y-c-public-child-care

Posted March 18, 2011


SOLIDARITY FOR THE CHILDREN – AFSCME DC 1707 Exec. Dir. Raglan George, Jr., defends New York City child care services during a press conference as Manhattan Borough Pres. Scott Stringer looks on. (Photo credit: Neal Tepel)


AFSCME District Council 1707, District Council 37 and Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000 are standing firm with Manhattan Borough Pres. Scott Stringer (D) to fight cuts to vital child care services.

In a recent press conference, Stringer blasted a plan by Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) to cut 16,500 children from public day care. That would leave many families without safe environments for the city’s children. He called it “a cynical, devastating blow to children, working parents and the wellbeing of future generations.”

With a nearly $2 billion surplus, the mayor still wants to move forward with his plan. That would be a travesty. Working families depend on quality, professional child care. Parents who lose child care have a difficult time getting to work. Bloomberg’s cuts would have a devastating affect on these families and on New York City’s struggling economy.

“It is unreasonable for the City of New York to strangle these centers and classrooms,” says DC 1707 Exec. Dir. Raglan George, Jr., also an AFSCME International vice president.

“The cost of public day care is covered. There is no shortage of need for this service. The city admits that only 27 percent of eligible working families have access to this safe, affordable and quality day care. We have to question the Bloomberg Administration’s priorities when it comes to children and toddlers.”

AFSCME represents over 175,000 public and non-profit employees in New York City and 420,000 public employees in New York State, including 5,000 public center-based day care employees in New York City and 30,000 family child care providers across the state.

Read more about the issue here: http://www.afscme.org/workers/28180.cfm?__utma=1.1165314700.1300594162.1300594162.1300594162.1&__utmb=-&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1300594162.1.1.utmcsr=afscme.org|utmccn=%28referral%29|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/index.cfm&__utmv=-&__utmk=30440127