Almost four years after winning their historic first contract, family child care providers represented by the UFT began negotiations in September for a successor agreement with the state.

“We’re very excited to be negotiating our second contract and for this opportunity to further improve the lives of New York City’s 21,000 hardworking family child care providers,” said Tammie Miller, the chair of the UFT Family Child Care Providers Chapter. “There was a time when providers didn’t have a voice or the protection of a union contract, but those days are over.”

The providers overwhelmingly ratified their first contract with New York State and the state’s Office of Children and Family Services in February 2010 after almost two years of negotiations. That agreement — the first of its kind in New York — locked in a pay rate for providers and granted them health insurance, among other benefits.

In the successor agreement, Miller said, the providers are seeking to increase their pay, receive additional quality grants that providers can use to pay for supplies and upgrades to their facilities and increase state funding for professional development.

“Our goal is to improve our working conditions but also our students’ learning conditions,” Miller said. “That means making sure providers have access to ongoing childhood development classes to hone their skills as early childhood educators.”

The providers also want to enshrine their grievance and dispute resolution processes in the contract and guarantee that the union is included in all policy discussions that relate to providers’ work and early childhood education, Miller said.

The chapter identified providers’ main issues for negotiations through a survey of the membership. Members will continue to provide input at contract committee meetings, set to begin in October, and at borough-based chapter meetings.

Anne Goldman, the union’s new vice president for non-DOE members, is heading up the providers’ negotiating committee with Miller.