Employees locked out at Something Special Children’s Centre

A group of employees at a downtown childcare centre are now picketing after being locked out by their employer as the result of a labour dispute.

The employees at Something Special Children’s Centre, who are members of CUPE Local 3625, have been locked out since Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, according to employees. The issue between the workers and employer is centred around maintaining their health benefits.

“We are the members of CUPE Local 3625. We work hard every day to provide quality child care for children and families at Something Special Children’s Centre. It can be difficult work, but we do it because we care about children, and we love to make a difference for them and their families,” the employees said in a release on CUPE’s website.

“Something Special Children’s Centre is attempting to make our jobs even more difficult by taking away vital health benefits that we rely on in the event of serious illness or injury. They have gone so far as to lock us out of the workplace when all we want is to keep our health benefits as they were in previous contracts.”

The eight child care workers that are currently locked out of Something Special Children’s Centre, located at Queen and Chapman Streets, have all worked in the field for over 12 years, according to the employees. They are now picketing daily from 7 to 11 a.m. and inviting the public to join them to show their support.

We just want to negotiate a fair contract that respects our work and protects the services we provide. We believe that no worker should see their working conditions reduced,” the statement on the CUPE website reads.

“Help us continue to provide quality child care by telling Something Special to end this lockout and negotiate a fair contract now!”

To view the statement or submit a letter of support, click here.

Kingstonist will continue to monitor this situation and provide details as information becomes available.