YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region Closes Downtown Pool, Lays Off Aquatics Staff Following Union Organizing
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — UFCW Local 7 workers handbilled customers at the Downtown Colorado Springs YMCA after the organization shuttered the pool at its Downtown branch for group swim lessons and open swimming and laid off or transferred all of the unionized lifeguards and swim instructors who staffed it. It is the only aquatics department within the YMCA association to face layoffs. These workers organized a union and were in the process of bargaining their first contact. The layoffs and closure came without advance notice to the community, cutting off swim lessons, water safety instruction, and lap swim for Downtown Colorado Springs residents who relied on the program.
Members of the aquatics staff say the timing is no coincidence. Workers have been engaged in collective bargaining negotiations for months to improve pay, staffing levels, and working conditions at the Downtown facility after being the first department within the YMCA association to unionize. Rather than sitting down at the bargaining table, YMCA leadership shuttered the pool area for group swim lessons and open swim and eliminated the very positions held by the workers leading the organizing effort. The remaining, limited pool activities are now being staffed by management personnel, not part of the union.
In response, impacted lifeguards and swim instructors, joined by community supporters and UFCW Local 7, held a hand billing event at the Downtown YMCA to alert members and the public to what happened and to demand a path forward. Volunteers distributed flyers urging YMCA leadership to reopen the pool, reinstate the aquatics staff, and return to the bargaining table with the union.
"This is a textbook case of union-busting. These workers did everything right — they organized to make their workplace better and safer for the families who use this pool,” stated Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7. “Instead of coming to the table, YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region shut the pool down for all intents and purposes and eliminated their jobs. Closing a community pool to avoid bargaining with the people who ran it isn't just bad labor practice, it's a disservice to Colorado Springs families who counted on it."
Brandon Kidd, a longtime lifeguard and swim instructor at the Downtown facility, remarked, "I taught kids how to swim at that pool for years. Some of them couldn't swim a single lap when they started with me. We organized because we wanted better staffing and to be able to keep doing that work well — not to shut anything down. Now the pool is closed, my coworkers and I are out of a job or have been transferred to another facility, and families in this community have lost a place where their kids learned water safety and have fun. All we're asking is that YMCA leadership bring the pool back and sit down with us."
Workers and supporters emphasize that the Downtown YMCA pool is more than recreation — it is a source of swim lessons, water safety instruction, and a community gathering space for Colorado Springs families. They are calling on YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region leadership to reopen the pool, bring back the lifeguards and swim instructors who were laid off, and resume negotiations with the union.
Community members who want to make their voices heard are encouraged to contact YMCA leadership directly and call CEO Boyd Williams at (719) 471-9790 and urge them to reopen the Downtown YMCA pool, reinstate its aquatics staff, and reopen negotiations with the union.
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Local 7, is the largest private-sector Union in Colorado and Wyoming. It is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union which represents over 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada, one of the largest private-sector Unions in North America. UFCW members work in a wide range of industries, including retail food, food processing, agriculture, retail sales, and health care.
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