(PatriotNewsDaily.com) – According to a report by the Portland Tribune, two private preschools in Portland, Oregon, have shut down following attempts by employees to unionize.
Shortly after its two locations tried to form a union, Guidepost Montessori abruptly closed both daycare locations. Locations closed on April 8th, after staff from both locations wanted to unionize with ILWU Local 5.
The report details that parents and teachers at both locations, one located in Tigard and the other in Lloyd, received less than 24 hours notice that the daycares were closing.
The closing of both private daycares followed Tigard’s teachers’ announcement that they intended to unionize in late March, which preceded Lloyd’s teachers’ preparation to file in early April.
The teachers believed unionizing both locations simultaneously would provide “some protection.”
Chloe Del Donno, one of the teachers at the affected private daycares, told the Tribune how staff believed “if there were two centers at the same time,” Guidepost Montessori couldn’t close both, given how many families would be left without childcare, describing it as “unethical.”
She added that teachers wanting to unionize felt they had done “everything” to “protect” the community from Guidepost.
Parents were notified of the three-month temporary closure of the Portland Guidepost Montessori on April 7th.
Angel Ignacio, Northwest Regional Manager for Higher Ground Education, Guidepost’s parent company, revealed the three-month closure in a statement to parents, noting that it may not be limited to three months and that families would have to “find alternate care.”
Teachers decided to unionize because of weak compensation and safety concerns. The cost of care at the private daycare was $2,000 a month, and employees at the Tigard location reportedly needed to evacuate the building because of a gas leak.
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