Ide McInerney said she loves her job helping people with intellectual disabilities at a group home in Saco. But she may not be able to afford to keep working there, she said. McInerney said that with a wage of about $18 an hour,

The strike was in opposition to proposed budget cuts targeting a state stipend program that provides roughly $240 to $540 to early childhood workers each month.

Family and child care workers gathered on Tuesday at the State House to strike to oppose proposed budget cuts to both child care and Maine’s Head Start program. Rally organizers say Governor Janet Mills’ proposed budget cuts will limit access to affordable care and will force educators out of the field.