Public Employee Press

Union fights to save day care center

Pint-sized protestors took to the street Aug. 19 to share the news that — after a long and mutually beneficial relationship — the New York Police Dept. is evicting their day care center from its home at One Police Plaza. Unionists and politicians rallied with the children to protest the lockout.

Many DC 37 members use the facility for child care and District Council 1707 represents the day care teachers. Holding banners and posters, the children — a typical multicultural group of New York City tots — captured the attention of media covering the rally.

City Council member Alan J. Gerson, who represents residents in the surrounding community, pledged his support in the effort to locate a new site for the center and negotiate an extension of the Sept. 30 eviction deadline. “This is a disgrace to our city,” he said. Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 Vice President Ralph Palladino described the hardships that the move will impose on NYPD employees who use the facility.

The Finest Day Care Center has been funded by the city through the Administration for Children’s Services and run by a nonprofit group since 1989. For two decades, the three-room schoolhouse has made its home inside the 14-story police headquarters.

Locating day care centers at work sites provides a win-win solution to a thorny dilemma: how to help parents drop off their children and still arrive at work on time. Employees struggling to raise their families benefited from the one-stop solution, and enhanced punctuality was a plus for the Police Dept.

Affordability is another issue for parents of the 30 children enrolled at the center. In a letter to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez argued that closing the center causes a great hardship for members whose children are enrolled. “Finding a new and affordable center is a difficult task. Not only is there a shortage of affordable day care, but there are extremely long waiting lists for those services,” he said. Local 1549 also launched a petition drive against closing the center.

“This is the only child care center in the neighborhood that’s affordable,” said Grievance Rep Alma Roper. Due to its location, many members have used it at one time or another, said Roper, who co-chairs Local 1549’s Political Action Committee.