Ongoing Capilano University strike means families can’t access daycare facility

"I know financially for us and others, finding childcare and being able to go to work is the been the biggest struggle," parent Robin Norris told Global News.

Parents are speaking out about their daycare being unavailable for weeks due to the ongoing strike at Capilano University.

“I know financially for us and others, finding child care and being able to go to work has the been the biggest struggle,” parent Robin Norris told Global News.

MoveUp Local 378, which represents about 350 unionized inside workers at the university, started job action in May after talks with the university collapsed over the issue of having remote work added to their collective agreement. The Capilano Faculty Association joined the strike in solidarity on June 6, halting classes at the school’s campuses.

However, mediation did not result in an agreement and the university said on July 13 that it has requested a report from the mediator to confirm areas of agreement and outline outstanding issues, if any.

Due to the strike, the on-campus daycare has not been open and available for parents.

It is a $10-a-day facility, but Norris said some parents have had to hire additional child care for around $25 an hour just so they are able to go to work.

“I know many child care runs minimum 25 bucks an hour, so at times eight hours, that’s $200,” he said. “So many people have now taken on upwards of $5,500 since the start of the strike. There’s 70 families there. So that’s approaching $400,000 in terms of, you know, an overall impact to the local families on the North Shore.”

Norris added that he and his wife have also taken time off work to care for their child, but overall they have had to pay about $5,000 more in child care since the start of the strike versus if the daycare had been open.