Kimie Jones, a child care worker from Detroit, on her time at the National Fight For $15 convention last weekend in Richmond, VA.  (Photo by SEIU International)

   

 
 

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  Child Care Providers are Fighting for Detroit Families

By Kimie Jones via Tell Us Detroit

DETROIT - The hot day just kept getting hotter as we marched through the former Confederate capital toward the statue of General Robert E. Lee. The temperature reached 105 degrees that day, but I wasn’t thinking about the heat. I was thinking about the little children I teach and all the families that depend on me.

Last week I jumped on a bus to join thousands of workers from across the country for the first-ever Fight for $15 convention in Richmond, VA. Fast food workers, janitors, security officers, adjunct faculty, child care providers and other underpaid workers—mostly people of color—were there to connect our movement to the legacy of slavery and segregation. The Fight for $15 is about winning a living wage and a path to a union for all workers.

As a child care provider, I felt it was important for me to add my voice to speak up against the poverty wages that are hurting so many families of color.

I see first-hand how children and parents struggle in today’s economy. For almost ten years I’ve run a child care center from my home. I started providing child care to families from my church that I knew desperately needed help finding affordable child care. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African American parents earn 40 percent less on average than white families even though we work at a higher rate, which means child care is an important need for our community. Too many parents are caught in a cycle of working low-wage jobs to keep money coming in, but not making enough to afford the child care they need.

Sometimes I have to buy diapers, or get paid late because the parents of the children I care for are struggling to get by. There are months that I only have a little left over in the bank after I pay my bills. When I add up the hours I work and my wages, I make about $8.50 an hour. But I do it because I love kids and I know how important the work I do is for families. We’re not just babysitters; child care providers provide healthy, safe learning environments for kids.

Many child care providers in Detroit are in the same boat as me. That’s why we went to Richmond to march as part of the Fight For $15 movement. We want to provide the best early education for the children, but too many good child care providers have had to shut their doors because of the poor pay. We’re calling for greater investment in child care so working parents have better access to affordable child care and providers like me can be paid at least $15 an hour.

At the two-day convention we stood beside civil rights leaders and union members and raised our voices to bring to light the economic and racial disparities among workers across the country. We were speaking up for the 64 million workers in this country who are paid less than $15 an hour, who we will turning out to vote this presidential election.

It was hot, and we were tired, but we didn’t quit. And being with other child care providers and the other members of this movement only inspired me to keep going. By coming together, we can work together to win at least $15 and a union for providers and high-quality child care that is affordable for all American families.


Kimie Jones is a child care provider from Detroit.
 
 

 
   
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