Sherry Loar didn't have a say in the unionization of her daycare business
PETOSKEY, MI -- A Northern Michigan daycare provider is not giving up her fight against the state.
She says business owners like herself should not be forced to be part of a union.
A portion of money paid to daycare providers who care for low-income kids has been gong to a union since last December.
A Petoskey daycare owner is hoping to put a stop to that.
“Boy, you're really sticking your neck out, but that's ok, I'm going to, I'm not going to stop!" said Sherry Loar.
Sherry Loar says she's the person who stepped up to the plate against the state. Loar is the owner of Baby Steps Childcare in Petoskey, and says her lawsuit, Loar verses The Department of Human Services, dates back to a letter she received in December of last year. It stated she had joined a union and dues would be collected, without her given a say.
"Being a day care provider, my attitude is bigger than my checkbook, so I didn't know, and I just wasn't going to give up, this is my home," said Loar.
The state decided any day care provider that has kids who receive federal aid will give a portion of its fees to the union for monthly dues. Loar says this means the state has unionized her private business, that's located in her private home, in which she's an employee.
"Everybody is invited in and we're a family, the union wasn't invited in, and they refused to leave."
Loar filed a lawsuit, but it was rejected by several courts. She keeps appealing the case. Loar says the thing about the unionization is who it attacks. Union fees, a penny and a half on every dollar, are being collected from the money she receives for her low-income kids.
“I'm seeing federal dollars, that are coming to the state, to help these children, and my Government has found a way to skim that money,” said Loar.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has jumped on board, saying this has broken basic principles by not allowing legislators to vote on the policy. Those for it say it's perfectly legal based on the state's constitution.
"If you're taking a couple million dollars out of that program and you're giving it to a union instead, that's less money for the kids," said Patrick Wright, the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Director.
Patrick Wright says the numbers have been crunched, and by doing it, unions will receive about three million dollars by collecting fees from day care providers across the state.
Loar says without the support of the Mackinac Center, she would have been stopped after the first lawsuit.
The center has filed a Motion for Reconsideration in the case against the Court of Appeals.
