Two private preschools in Portland, Oregon, shut down after employees tried to unionize, according to a report.
Guidepost Montessori abruptly closed the two daycare locations in early April shortly after both locations attempted to unionize with ILWU Local 5.
“Teachers and parents at two locations of Guidepost Montessori found out their day care facility was closing with less than 24 hours notice,” the Portland Tribune reported. The Tribune added that the Montessori locations were located in Tigard and the Lloyd district in Portland.
After Tigard teachers announced their intent to unionize in late March and Lloyd teachers prepared to file in early April, the schools were closed April 8.
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The teachers had thought unionizing both locations at the same time “would offer some protection.”
“We figured if there were two centers at the same time, surely they can’t shut down both of us. The amount of families that would leave without childcare would be too unethical. But then that’s exactly what they did,” one of the teachers, Chloe Del Donno, told the Tribune. “I feel like we did everything we could to protect our community from Guidepost.”
Per the Tribune, administrators for Guidepost Montessori notified parents the closures were a temporary three-month measure because the heads of both locations resigned from their posts.
“This leaves us in a position where we have no choice but to temporarily close the school,” Angel Ignacio, Northwest Regional Manager for Higher Ground Education, the parent company of Guidepost, announced to parents on April 7.
“I understand that a three-month closure, without any guarantee that it will be limited to three months, means that many of our families will have to find alternate care,” she added.
Per the Tribune, “Emily Roan, a teacher in the Tigard location’s toddler program, said she felt shocked, frustrated and sad over ‘the reality that my time in my classroom with my children that I was teaching was over.’”
Employees reported weak compensation for teachers, while the cost for care at the Montesorri was at least $2,000 per month. Furthermore, employees cited safety concerns as the impetus behind the unionization effort. Reportedly, there was a gas leak at the Tigard location that prompted staff to evacuate the building.
Teachers at the Tigard location sought to unionize 17 employees while the Portland location had 11 employees.
Del Donno, said that the schools were never able to give more money to teachers nor provide classroom essentials as they were being paid $20 per hour.
“So we were always, in our union effort, very confused about where that money went and why Guidepost always seemed to claim to have so little money,” Donno said.
Guidepost Montessori didn’t immediately respond for comment.
