Childcare workers to strike nationally amid sector ‘crisis’ with poor pay and working conditions
Australia’s childcare sector will strike amid a “crisis” in the early learning sector due to poor pay and working conditions.
Childcare workers across the nation will strike amid a “crisis” over poor pay and working conditions which have plagued the early learning sector for years.
United Workers Union delegates voted on Wednesday to stage the mass walkout, with the strike to take place on September 7.
In a statement, the union said educators were leaving the sector in record numbers due to burnout, workload pressures and low pay.
“Centres across the country are having to limit enrolments, close rooms and cancel staff leave,” UWU said in a statement.
“Children and families are suffering due to the strain.”
Workers are calling for the Federal Government to outline a plan to fix the childcare sector, including treating early education with the same importance as schooling.
Helen Gibbons, UWU early education director, said educators were “sick of being stuck” amid a decade of “inaction”.
“Our vision is for a sector where educators’ vital work is valued with professional wages and working conditions, and where early education is recognised for its vital role in children’s development,” she said.
“The only way out of the crisis in early learning is real reform that respects educators.”
A damning report last year found the early education sector was on the brink of crisis and at “breaking point”.
Of 7000 educators surveyed, 70 per cent said they “always or often” worried about their financial situation, while 81 per cent of centre directors said they had difficulties in recruiting new staff.
Sixty-five per cent of educators reported their services are already understaffed,