From the Mackinaw center for public policy In 2006, Michigan's Department of Human Services signed an agreement with a community college in Flint to create a government agency: the Michigan Home-Based Child-Care Council. The council's mission was to "recommend" good child-care practices. Even though the new agency didn't have a large staff or control of state dollars, the agency became a "public employer."
At the same time, the United Auto Workers and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees joined forces. They wanted to unionize private day-care services. So they came up with a new identity -- "the Michigan Employment Relations Committee" -- and conducted a union certification election. By mail. Only 6,000 day-care providers voted. The other 40,000 day-care providers in the state weren't even aware of the election. But -- shazaam! Suddenly, all the state's private day-care workers were in the union.
Here's where this all comes together. Since some low-income parents using private day-care get state subsidies, the new union claimed all its private day care workers are "public employees." And that new government agency designed to simply "recommend good child-care practices" is now the employer.
The result? In Michigan, private day-care providers are forced to pay union dues. And the Department of Human Services gives almost $4 million a year to the new union. It's a perfect scam set up by the Democrats who run Michigan, the community college, and the unions.
And you wonder why Michigan, Detroit [[and soon the rest of us) is broke? Mackinac Center for Public Policy: The Michigan Zombie Child Care Council
• Wall Street Journal: Michigan Forces Business Owners Into Public Sector Unions
