As part of its cost cutting, Ford Motor Co. is closing seven day care centers in Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri that provide care for nearly 900 pre-schoolers and infants, a company official confirmed Friday.
The facilities, which are jointly supported by Ford and the UAW, will be closed by the end of June, Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt confirmed. They also offer kindergarten classes.
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He refused to discuss the costs associated with running the facilities, but said the decision to shutter the centers because of the company’s “business realities and the current restructuring initiatives.”
On Thursday, Ford posted an annual loss of $12.7 billion, the biggest annual loss in the company’s 103-year history and the second-largest ever among domestic automakers.
Both Ford and UAW leaders agreed to close the centers, but parents were not involved in the decision. Parents were slated to be notified Friday afternoon, although some found out ahead of schedule and called the Free Press.
Hoyt said that Ford has 29 “Family Service and Learning Centers” nationwide. But only seven offer childcare services.
“The childcare is what’s being discontinued,” Hoyt said.
The centers, which also offer educational and fitness classes, will remain open to workers.
Elizabeth Drotar, a salaried worker at Ford and a mother in her 30s, breastfeeds her infant during breaks at work at a center in Dearborn that is closing. She said the news was devastating.
Drotar’s husband also works at Ford, and she said her family feels Ford’s financial pain acutely these days. One of the reasons she decided not to take a company buyout was because she didn’t think she’d find another daycare center that was as good.
“I understand the financial troubles, but they didn’t even see if there was anything they could do to cut costs,” she said in a telephone interview Friday.
“I’d be willing to pay more, but they didn’t even approach us. … There are going to be a lot of parents who are very upset.”
The center she uses cares for more than 100 children on Rotunda Drive, between the Southfield and Oakwood. It’s a free-standing building that was constructed for use as a daycare. It is managed by Bright Horizon Family Solutions, a Watertown, Mass. company that operates day care centers.
Ford has been named 10 times, including last year, to the Working Mother Magazine 100 Best Companies list, which recognizes companies for their family-friendly policies. The child-care centers were one of the reasons cited for the recognition.
The centers closing are
• Michigan
• Pestillo Center – Ypsilanti
• Yokich Center – Sterling Heights
• Livonia Center
• Bill Ford Center – Dearborn
• Dearborn West
Outside of Michigan:
• Kansas City, Mo.
• Louisville, Ky.
