By MIKE LEE

Local 205 Fights Day Care Closures

More than 200 protesters, including parents, teachers, and other workers, rallied on Jan. 24 in front of Nuestros Niños Day Care Center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to protest the impending closure of the location and four other centers in Brooklyn and Queens by the end of June.

Nuestros Niños Day Care Center has served the neighborhood for more than 50 years. The other centers at risk are Grand Street Settlement, Young Minds, Friends of Crown Heights, and All My Children.

“These centers have served their communities for decades,” said Robert Ramos, President of Day Care Workers Local 205. “For no valid reason, these community institutions are being closed down by the city to save money and move the children to public school classrooms, which are already overcrowded.”

Closing the day care centers will affect hundreds of children, their families, and staff, including nearly 100 Local 205 members who work as Group Teachers, Assistant Teachers, Cooks, Janitors, Family Workers, and Bookkeepers.

The city blamed the decision on low enrollment numbers despite evidence to the contrary. Currently, enrollment figures show 75% to 99% enrollment at the threatened Brooklyn locations.

Parents, Providers Demand City Stop Early Child Care Center Closures

Parents and day care workers packed the steps of City Hall the afternoon of Feb. 6 to demand the city halt a Department of Education plan to close five early childhood centers in Brooklyn and Queens by the end of June. Among those speaking at the rally were Day Care Employees Local 205 President Robert Ramos (above).

Union Protests Expansion of Anti-Immigrant Raids

Activists from DC 37 joined other unions, elected officials, and immigrant advocates at a protest on Feb. 6 at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery in Manhattan. The demonstration was held in reaction to a decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to rescind a Biden Administration order preventing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from raiding schools, hospitals, and places of worship. The new directive allows law enforcement to invade these formerly safe spaces for millions of migrants nationwide, putting more families at risk of deportation. Photos by Mike Lee.