In April, more than 49,000 Illinois SEIU family child care providers became the first in the nation to win a united voice.

Across the country, family child care providers are uniting in SEIU to improve quality care and early education for children.

When providers stand together, we have a strong voice in policies that affect children and working families.

We're working to win:

• A strong voice in decisions that affect our work and our kids
• Consistent and quality care for children, through wage and benefit improvements that stem the rapid loss of experienced providers
• Opportunities for training and workforce development, including career ladders so that more providers have an incentive to stay in the field
• Adequate investment in child care and education to promote early childhood development and make sure working families get the support they need.

The Service Employees International Union - representing more than 1.8 million workers in North America - has helped providers across the country improve child care and early education for hundreds of thousands of children.

It's time to build a national movement of parents, advocates, community groups, political leaders, and working families committed to putting children first.  The strides we've made have shown us that when we stand together, we can hold politicians accountable and win for affordable, quality child care.