About 2,200 child-care providers in Maine will soon vote on whether they want to unionize.

Organizers say a union would give the providers a greater voice in shaping state regulations that affect them and more influence over how much the state reimburses them for taking care of children from lower-income families.

Ballots will be mailed to eligible employees in early October, and will likely be opened in mid-October.

The American Arbitration Association will conduct the election.

A majority of the providers have signed cards stating they want to unionize.

"We are confident we will win," said Avril Smith, a spokesperson for the Service Employees International Union.

The Maine State Employees Association, which is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, has spent about a year organizing the providers.

Even if the union drive is successful, the union would still have to convince Gov. John Baldacci or the Legislature to give it the legal right to bargain on behalf of child-care providers.

Child-care providers are independent contractors.

Membership in the union would be voluntary and dues have yet to be set.

Since 2005, 10 states have given providers the freedom to form a union. Illinois, Oregon and Washington state have approved union contracts.

The state pays child-care providers to take care of children from lower-income families, paying 85 percent of the going rate in the local area.

Parents either make up the difference or pay nothing, depending on the program in which they are enrolled.

While many child-care providers are interested in increasing the state subsidy, some primarily want more clout in setting the rules providers must follow, said Melanie Collins, who runs a child-care business out of her home in Falmouth.

She said many rules are set by bureaucrats who have little experience with young children. For example, she said, one rule requires that lids be put on garbage cans, which in reality does little for children's safety.

"Every 2-year-old that I know can take off the lid and take everything out," she said.

She said she puts her garbage in a locked cabinet.

"What I can do as part of a union is to help create regulations and rules to ensure quality and safety in a way that is doable and makes sense," she said.

In 2004, the average child-care worker in Maine earned $19,089, and the average child-care director earned $28,932, according to study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Full text available at Maine Today