Rally aims to save city daycare

The union representing 21 workers at a city-run daycare are holding a rally today at Tom Davies Square to pressure city councillors to keep the facility open.

Members of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4075 are worried changes to the way the province subsidizes daycare centres will increase pressure on the city to close the Junior Citizens Day Care.

Those changes means the city is receiving more than $1 million less in grants from the province each year for day care. Sudbury is getting more than $6 million in transitional funding over the next five years to help the city cope with reduced funding.

One of the options is to close the Junior Citizens daycare, which operates out of the YMCA on Durham Street and offers 120 subsidized spots. It's unique in that it's bilingual and the only daycare offering service until 11 p.m.

Since employees are CUPE members, staffing costs are about 50-per-cent higher than in the private sector. Closing the centre would save the city about $129,000, and at a meeting in December, members of the community service committee directed staff to come up with options on closing it down.

But in January, committee members asked for another option: ways to keep the facility open. In a report going to the committee this evening, staff outlines a number of options to make up for the funding shortfall.

Stella Yeadon, CUPE communications, said the union is worried the funding cuts will be used as an excuse to close the facility. She said the province is tying daycare subsidies to population growth.

“So places like Sudbury — or anywhere in the North where the population isn't growing — there's going to be a huge decline in funding for childcare,” Yeadon said.

“Municipalities have to make the decision whether they see childcare as an important part of their economy, and subsidize it, like they do ambulances, or … cut (it).”

The report offers several options to compensate for the reduced funding. For example, phasing out the School Readiness for High Risk Families program would save $550,000. It offers pre-school programs to 192 kids ages 18-44 months.

Another option – eliminating a daycare subsidy for 120 children ages 10-12, would save another $200,000.

A sub-committee focused on the future of the Junior Citizens Day Care met twice to review its operations.

“The average cost per subsidized child was $6,304 for JCDC versus $3,063 at a community centre and that the municipality recovers part of its cost from the municipal levy,” the report says.

“Closure of the centre would result in additional subsidy dollars for the community, along with the savings to the municipal levy projected at approximately $125,000 for 2013.”

Reducing costs is difficult because 89 per cent of expenses are salaries and benefits, the report says. Staffing levels are dictated by provincial regulations, while salaries are dictated by the collective agreement.

“The group agreed that JCDC could form part of a bigger system review,” the report says. “The review would examine ways to make the system more efficient and allow for greater flexibility for part-time children and parents working shift work requiring evening care.”

The CUPE rally begins at 4:15 in the courtyard at Tom Davies Square. The community services committee meeting begins at 6 pm.