The grand opening of the SEC’s new child care center, the Harbor at Station Place, occurred on January 30. SEC Chairman Chris Cox, NTEU National President Colleen Kelley, and Chapter 293 President Greg Gilman were all on hand for the ceremony.

The road leading up to the Harbor began when NTEU commenced negotiations with the SEC regarding the move to Station Place. An NTEU survey found that a child care center was a priority for many SEC employees. Chapter 293's bargaining team pressed this issue for two years before obtaining management’s agreement.

Their hard work paid off for SEC employees in 2006, when management finally relented and agreed to the new facility. NTEU members also won the support of incoming Chairman Cox, and worked with the agency to make the center a reality.

At the dedication ceremony, Chairman Cox acknowledged that NTEU was a primary driver behind the center and our efforts were commemorated on the dedication wall at the entrance. The center’s board presented the union with a “Harbor Award,” a crystal representation of a sailboat, in recognition of NTEU’s leadership, which is on display in the union office at HQ.

“We often wonder if a small group of people can really make a difference, but it was apparent from the SEC employees and their children gathered for the opening that the work of NTEU Chapter 293 made a huge difference in the lives of those families,” Kelley recently noted.

The state-of-the-art facility has approximately 12,450 square feet of space with a capacity of 88 children from the ages of 6 weeks to 6 years. The Child Care Subsidy in the CBA can be used to defray the costs of enrollment.