On Friday October 29th, ECDC/YMCA issued all employees a new attendance policy that was implemented immediately. This attendance policy was put into place during the worst pandemic that we have seen in generations. Many of us have been forced to take our own personal leave time/sick time due to exposure to the virus whether in the classroom or in our personal lives. We have placed our lives and the lives of our families on the line in service to ECDC/YMCA and the children that we teach and care for. Many of us have lost loved ones. We are overworked, understaffed, and often work with no breaks and very little assistance. This takes a toll on not only our physical bodies but also on our mental health. The stress and worry of the pandemic has just added to that burden.

During this stressful and worrisome time, ECDC/YMCA decided to institute an extremely harsh attendance policy that would leave the majority of us out of a job by the end of the school year. After only 6 call-outs in a school year, we would be without a job. Those of us who are new that have very little benefit time available would be out of a job even before that. Many of us have had to use all of the benefit time we had accrued to quarantine or to deal with COVID-related illness.

This disregard for our lives and our health is not only unacceptable it is loathsome! We demand a change! We are calling for the removal of this new attendance policy. Any employee who has received an occurrence should have those occurrences voided. We are calling for ECDC/YMCA to meet with our Union leaders and stewards to negotiate a new policy that works for employees and takes into account the current atmosphere in which we are living and working. We demand that this meeting take place as soon as possible!