Preschool of America Employees Unionized
October 26, 2011
Around Town – By Neal Tepel
Employees at two sites of Preschool of America voted to join District Council 1707 more than a year after the owners of the pricey day care center fired 13 employees after a previous National Labor Relation Board supervised election. At the West End Avenue Center on 64th Street at on the upper west side of Manhattan, the union won 10-1. At the upper east side location on Lexington and 96th ‘Street, the union won 6-1. The election was for the head teachers at both centers. The union previously won the election for the assistant teachers more than a year ago.
“I have nothing but admiration for these workers who have withstood endless amounts of threats and harassment's all because they wanted to unionize,” said President Everett.
DC 1707 Organizing Director Michael Green said that the union is going to accelerate the negotiations process which has been stalled by the company. “They have a right for a fair and equitable contract and we are prepared to fight for it,” he said. DC 1707 Executive Director Raglan George, Jr. praised the election results but was more cautious about the future of child care in New York City. “While this is a significant victory, we are concerned that the Bloomberg Administration is going in the opposite direction of traditional child care in the city,” said George.
“The Mayor’s Early Learn NYC proposal is attempting to cut out long-term community-based organizations which have serviced hundreds of thousands of children and families over the past 40 years and expose our children to profiteers and others who do not have the best interest of working families in their designs.”
