AFSCME Council 5 sends us this exciting update from Minnesota:

After a debate that took nearly 10 hours over three legislative days, the Minnesota House of Representatives approved historic legislation Monday that extends collective bargaining rights to family child care providers and personal care attendants. The bill passed 68-66 after surviving 20 Republican amendments trying to undermine it. Gov. Mark Dayton promises to sign the bill. With the victory—which was eight years in the making—about 11,000 family child care providers gain the ability to vote on forming a union to act with a unified voice to improve the future for providers, children and working parents. The law covers licensed and unlicensed providers who care for children in the state’s basic sliding fee program.