Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees say they’re glad to see a new deal reached to keep childcare services operating in Sioux Lookout, but they’re concerned with how the situation played out.
Announced March 22, leadership of the Kenora District Services Board, Municipality of Sioux Lookout and CUPE have come together to sign a new agreement to keep childcare running in Sioux Lookout, after seven months of negotiations.
Municipal childcare services were originally set to end by March 31 in Sioux Lookout after the first round of negotiations between the KDSB, the Municipality and 17 local childcare workers.
“Families, workers, and the broader community of Sioux Lookout rallied together to save Sioux Lookout child care—we are truly thankful for their unwavering support and quick action to ensure the continuity of vital child care services in the region,” says Kristin Wray, Vice-President of CUPE Local 2141.
“It’s a relief for families, workers, and our community who all benefit from quality child care provided by workers who are treated with respect and dignity.”
The KDSB was set to take over childcare programming by January 1, 2022, but CUPE filed a motion against the transfer of services, delaying the deal for months, which later caused the KDSB to back out of the deal in late January.
They said their issue with the move was that workers would lose their rights like seniority and sick leave that they had previously negotiated for with the union. They had also shared concerns about the union they would have transferred over to at the KDSB.
CUPE members say the KDSB’s initial refusal to accept 17 local childcare workers, and Sioux Lookout’s municipal councillors refusing to meet with childcare workers about the situation, are both major concerns.
“The municipality’s shameful decision to close the centres, and issue layoff notices to 17 frontline child care workers, following the KDSB’s refusal to move forward with the service transfer, left workers, families and the broader community rightfully concerned and fearful of service disruption,” says Wray.
“We’re thankful that the KDSB has ultimately chosen to accept dedicated, highly skilled, and experienced child care workers, and their current workplace rights, especially now as a widespread child care worker shortage and waitlists for child care continue to leave families without the necessary support they need.”
In the months following, leaders of the Local 2141 union of CUPE, the KDSB and the Municipality continued negotiations to find a permanent solution for the community, resulting in the new deal announced March 22.
CUPE notes a coalition of parents, workers and supporters sent hundreds of letters to councillors, Mayor Doug Lawrance and the KDSB, demanding that they ensure childcare remains in the region.
The union says the confusion and fear regarding the future of childcare in the community could have been avoided if the Municipality and KDSB consulted with families and workers to ensure a smooth service transition.
“Families and workers simply wanted to see a seamless transition of services where service quality, space accessibility, and workers’ rights were maintained and protected,” says Wray.
“From the beginning, workers have always wanted to continue doing the important care and early learning work they do for the families of Sioux Lookout, and maintain their current, modest working conditions that were not guaranteed in the service transfer agreement.”
The union notes they plan to continue working with the community to advocate for an accessible, affordable, not-for-profit childcare and early learning system in Sioux Lookout.
The Municipality and KDSB announced the original transfer of services back on September 1, 2021.
Now, the KDSB says they will begin operations of the community’s Early Years and Childcare programs by April 4, after bringing on childcare staff from the Municipality on April 1.
The KDSB says they plan to ensure that all 109 children on the current wait-list for childcare services in Sioux Lookout will have access to a space by September 1, after the creation of JK/SK before and after-school programming in the community.
In a previous interview on the situation with Q104 and DrydenNow, Chief Administrative Officer with the KDSB, Henry Wall, had proposed a regional staffing approach to help operate the additional childcare spaces, once they’re built.
Childcare spaces currently exist at the Biidaban Children's Centre, Sioux Mountain Public School and Sacred Heart School. Renovations to the Sioux Mountain Children’s Centre took place in 2018, at a cost of just under $2 million.