Childcare centre strike to hit 70,000 families

More than 1000 childcare centres will shut on Wednesday as workers go on strike for higher wages.

United Workers Union executive director for early education Helen Gibbons.

More than 1000 childcare centres will shut on Wednesday as workers go on strike for higher wages, forcing parents to find ­alternative arrangements for their children.

The nationwide action, to coincide with Early Childhood Educators Day, will affect an estimated 70,000 families as teachers participate in rallies.

United Workers Union executive director for early education Helen Gibbons is calling on the new Labor government to pay the bill for boosted wages to ensure the sector retains and attracts childcare workers.

“We know we can’t expect parents to pay more to attend early education, it’s already ­really expensive and we need to make the education more affordable, not less affordable,” she said. “The federal government is the funder of education and they need to address this issue; there needs to be a conversation about targeted funding that addresses the wages of educators.”

While Wednesday’s strike will advocate for the government to outline a plan to improve pay for teachers, Ms Gibbons revealed the sector has not agreed on a figure. “[Childcare workers] don’t expect a magic wand to be waved in order to be fixed overnight … What they want to see from this government is a real plan to deliver on their wages and to deliver on the sort of early education system Australia deserves and expects,” she said.

Ms Gibbons said if the government did not listen, they could expect more teachers to walk off and strike in the future.

One centre taking part in the shut down is Albury Occasional Childcare and Early Learning Centre, whose supervisor Gina Weavan said she has not been able to recruit staff for six months. “[The government] is not looking at how we are going to get the people who have left the industry in the last 12 months back into our industry … we just can’t wait four years for a big influx of teachers to graduate.”

Ms Weavan said her local TAFE also had trouble attracting prospective students to study early childhood education, despite the course being fee-free.

“Our local TAFE is not running any half-yearly intake because it didn’t get enough people interested … if we can’t get the course running in local areas or towns, we can’t train staff for the sector who want to be in it.”