Angry parents are waging a last-ditch campaign against the snap closure of Maribyrnong Community Centre Occasional Childcare.
Maribyrnong council told parents by letter last week that the centre, which offers care for up to 15 hours a week, would close on December 18 because of a shortage of enrolments.
The decision, made behind closed doors at last week’s council meeting, came as a shock to parents and to seven staff likely to lose their jobs.
Nina Mole, who started an online petition against the closure that quickly attracted more than 200 signatures, said there had been no indication to parents the service was in peril.
“I only found out they were closing because one of the other mums posted the letter on a Facebook forum,” she said.
Ms Mole, who has been using the service for almost three years, said parents were told to make their own arrangements with another centre in Maribyrnong or Moonee Ponds.
But none of the centres Ms Mole contacted operate during school holidays and most shut well before Maribyrnong’s 2.30pm closing time.
Australian Services Union organiser Martin McDonald said seven part-time workers faced the axe, including carers who had been at the centre for more than 20 years.
He said staff would meet to discuss the possibility of challenging at the Fair Work Commission any forced redundancies.
Mother Adele Coone said her three-year-old son had been going to the centre one day a week for almost two years.
“I call it my mental health break. I’m from regional Victoria and my family are still there so I don’t have family to mind him,” she said.
Maribyrnong council chief executive Stephen Wall said the service had been operating at an average capacity rate of 44 per cent and making a financial loss.
