If there is any doubt about what the real motivation was behind the creation of Child Care Providers Together Michigan, the very first page of the first issue of their newsletter pretty much gave the game away. Right underneath their “welcome new members” blurb is the headline “Dues Payment” and an article explaining how [a]ll providers covered by the contract are to have dues/fair share fees deducted directly from State payments to pay for the cost of representation. We are happy to report that we have made significant progress in our efforts to proceed with dues collection.”

This union, imposed on home-based child care providers who run their own businesses from their homes, really accomplished little except to serve as a conduit through which state funds were redirected to a union. Tax dollars that were meant to help low-income families care for their children went instead to union coffers, where they could be spent on union politics.

The Snyder administration has come to recognize that the union failed to deliver improvements in day care quality. Day care providers didn't appreciate the union’s intrusion into their businesses. Taxpayers — regardless of their ideological stripe — deserve to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are going where they are supposed to go. Any way you look at it, this was a bad deal for everyone except union brass. It's good to know that this whole convoluted arrangement is being wrapped up.

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