The last few years of self-growth while we adapted and learned to live with a virus that devastated our communities have reinforced our belief that where there is a will there is a way. And after so many months, this year we’ve finally seen what our new normal looks like.
This year, we have once again stormed into county buildings in-person demanding the pay and benefits we deserve. We’ve marched through the streets and gardens of our state capitol demanding accessible health care and retirement benefits for family child care providers, logged thousands of minutes making phone calls to ensure that the candidates who support and value our work were elected and knocked on twice as many doors to make sure our neighbors made their voices heard during this year’s elections. We’re back at face-to-face membership meetings throughout the state and we are stronger than ever!
And although we’re excited about the future, we want to take a moment to recap and relish the incredible moments we shared in 2022.
Top wins
Workers Tax Credit
After months of back-and-forth, Governor Newsom signed the Workers Tax Credit into law in September. This historic new benefit establishes the framework for a refundable tax credit for a portion of union dues, allowing workers in low-wage industries to receive the benefits of the tax credit.
While union dues are deductible as an itemized expense on state returns, many workers do not earn enough to itemize and therefore cannot deduct them. Meanwhile, higher-income professionals can write off a wide range of business-related expenses, including association fees. The Workers Tax Credit allows a wide range of workers to receive a tax credit even if they cannot itemize deductions or have no tax liability. It’s a huge win for all union workers and we are extremely proud to have led the effort!
Historic win for child care providers in California ratified!
This September, thousands of CCPU-UDW members—our union’s family child care providers—voted to approve CCPU’s historic Healthcare Fund Agreement and a new union dues structure. It took tremendous effort to win this health care benefit for family child care providers, but our dedication to standing strong together made it possible.
CCPU-UDW members voted Yes on:
- The first healthcare benefit for family child care providers of its kind in the nation, with over $100 million in ongoing funding to lower or eliminate healthcare costs for an estimated 20,000 insured and uninsured family child care providers across the state.
- A path to retirement by establishing a $240,000 agreement that will fund a groundbreaking study to determine a plan and benefit design that ensures the best possible retirement benefits for child care providers, to be funded in future years.
- A new dues percentage-based structure that allows CCPU to become self-reliant and create a future that allows us to forge our own path as our union continues to grow.
Term limits for Kern County Board of Supervisors
WE DID IT! After months of hitting the pavement and knocking on thousands of doors, making calls, collecting signatures, and encouraging our neighbors to get out and vote, Measure J passed in Kern County! This new measure will establish term limits of two terms or 8 years on the county’s Board of Supervisors and will allow Kern voters to elect leaders with fresh and forward-thinking ideas to create a safer, better Kern for all. This is the first step toward welcoming new leadership who will side with the working families of Kern County and help rebuild our economy and improve the quality of life for all. We couldn’t have done it without all the volunteers who put in their time and heart into making this possible.
IHSS bargaining wins
After countless negotiation meetings, rallies at the Board of Supervisors, and hours spent speaking and sharing our stories, UDW members in Santa Barbara, Imperial, and Tuolumne counties finally won new contracts with wage and benefit increases.
This year, UDW members have kicked bargaining efforts into high gear in various counties and with so many other contracts expiring at the end of 2022, we will be upping the ante to pressure local Board of Supervisors to pay us living wages and provide us essential benefits in 2023!
Contact your local office to find out how you can be involved IHSS bargaining in your county today!
Top moments
57th Anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery March
UDW members gathered in Montgomery, Alabama to walk an 11-mile leg of a 50-mile march in honor of the 57th anniversary of the Selma-to- Montgomery march, originally led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and thousands of non-violent demonstrators fighting for voting rights.
During the trip, UDW leaders also took on the task of visiting historic sites to learn about the roots of domestic labor, including its connections to slavery and a deeply flawed justice system, and how these connections lead to the deeply embedded misconceptions of our work and why it is undervalued, underpaid. Read more about our journey.
AFSCME’s 45th Convention
This July, 45 UDW delegates joined more than 2,000 union siblings for the first time since 2018 at the eventful AFSCME 45th International Convention in Philadelphia.
We made history by officially welcoming our family child care providers members of CCPU-UDW to our international family in person, raised our voices to support eleven of the 41 resolutions presented at the convention, participated in various panels and workshops, and even joined our fellow union siblings at the picket line to demand a better contract with fairer wages for museum workers. Check out the details.
Provider Appreciation Days
After such an eventful spring and summer, we made sure to take some time to celebrate the work care providers put in all year round. Together, hundreds of us gathered up and down the state at our local county’s Provider Appreciation Day events where we shared a meal, a good ol’ dance, and lots of prizes! It was so much fun, and we were so honored to share the day surrounded by you all and your incredibly kind hearts.
Provider Appreciation Day Imperial County 2022: We ate, danced, and enjoyed prizes throughout the night!
And we didn’t stop there…
Improving Interactions between People with Intellectual and Development Disabilities and Law Enforcement
UDW leaders and community allies joined forces to successfully advocated for SB 882, and after months of hard work and long hours of lobbying legislators, Governor Newsom signed SB 882 into law this September. This bill will help people with developmental disabilities and mental illness during interactions with police by creating an advisory group within the Attorney General’s office to make necessary improvements to the training police officers receive. This is a huge win and a great step forward as we continue to fight to protect the safety of our clients in interactions with law enforcement.
New life-changing UDW member benefit!
This past May, UDW partnered with Providence Federal Credit Union (PFCU) to launch the newest member benefit—a credit union with products and services designed specifically to meet our needs as caregivers and family child care providers!
With day-to-day benefits from free checking and savings accounts, second-chance checking accounts, low-interest loans specifically designed with UDW members in mind, and free financial wellness classes and counseling, PFCU gives us the tools to increase our financial stability and create a better tomorrow for our families. To learn more visit providencecu.org/udw.
Nationwide, 2022 has reawakened the power of unions and we are here for the movement—walking side-by-side, elbow-in-elbow with our fellow union siblings, from museum workers to student workers and everything in between, who are fighting for fair contracts. This year has given us more of the prowess and confidence we need to make our voices heard and our needs met, and we can’t wait to see where this momentum takes us in 2023.
