PROVIDENCE — The employees of five Head Start sites in Providence and Pawtucket have voted overwhelmingly to join Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union.

The employees voted by secret ballot on Monday, and the new union includes teachers, teacher assistants, family workers, bus drivers, health aides and secretarial staff. The election was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. The vote was 136 to 22 in favor of joining Local 1199.

Chas Walker, a Local 1199 organizer, said employees decided to organize after their agency was taken over by a private contractor, Community Development Institute of Denver. Federal authorities revoked financing for the Providence Head Start last fall after they determined that the agency was not properly conducting criminal background checks on employees. In Providence, Head Start programs were shut down for three days and then an interim coordinator, CDI, reopened the program after dismissing three staff members.

According to Walker, CDI made a series of top-down changes, including cutting benefits, hours, breaks and closing two sites, which spurred the workers’ decision to form a union. He also said that employees with decades of service were forced to re-apply for their own jobs.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Tina Heyder, a Head Start teacher in Providence. “We never had a say in anything. Our pay is terrible. The average teacher makes $10 or $11 an hour. And our jobs are unstable. They can fire us whenever they want.”

A spokesman for CDI could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Employees are looking for stability in their lives, including job security, raises and an improved health-care package, Walker said. The employees’ next step is to conduct a survey of coworkers to determine their priorities as the union prepares to negotiate its first contract.

Head Start is a national, federally financed program that provides education and daycare services to children under 5 years old. The Providence chapter has been in existence since 1965 and serves approximately 1,000 children and their families.

lborg@projo.com