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The Canadian Auto Workers union says its child care centre in Windsor will close permanently at the end of September, throwing 59 people out of work.
With no financial support from Chrysler and Ford Motor Company, a lack of government funding and the implementation of full-day kindergarten, the union says it will be forced to axe the 23-year-old service Sept. 30, according to a statement released Wednesday.
Anna Angelidis said in the statement that closing the centre was the toughest decision the board has ever made.
She couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
The centre was the first daycare to offer an extended-hours program - it currently provides care for 244 children and 173 families - for shift-working families.
In addition to the loss of 150 extended-hour, licensed child care spaces, Angelidis said 59 jobs will be eliminated.
In a bid to keep the business afloat, the centre extended its services to the general public in fall of 2010.
Before then, services were only offered to CAW members at General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, which helped fund the facility before major downsizing in the auto industry.
Now, the companies can no longer afford to subsidize the centre, according to Ken Lewenza, CAW national president.
"It is a terrible day for Windsor-area parents who now have one less option available to them for affordable, quality care, where few options exist," Lewenza said in the CAW statement.
In 2010, the CAW was forced to close its child care centre in Oshawa because of declining enrolment attributed to the changing demographics of its membership.
That same year, Windsor city council voted to close nine cityoperated child care centres staffed by city CUPE workers as a budget cost-saving measure.
The closures affected about 120 unionized city workers, most of them early childhood educators.
-reprinted from the Windsor Star