Updated
Photo:
Childcare workers rally on the steps of the State Library in Melbourne. (ABC News: James Oaten)
At least 3,000 early childhood educators have gone on
strike across the country to protest over pay and conditions, calling
for a wage increase of about 35 per cent.
Helen Gibbons, who is
with United Voice — the union representing childcare workers — said it
was frustrating the campaign had come to strike action."Everybody knows how important early education is, and everybody knows how important early educators are," she said.
"They are qualified, they are committed, they are experienced and yet they can be paid as little as $21 an hour."Ms Gibbons said early childhood educators were undervalued, because their work was seen as women's work that they did the job for love alone.
"Love does not pay the bills, and in 2017, 45 years after the equal pay case, that is not OK," Ms Gibbons said.
"We know that educators with equivalent qualifications, if they worked in male-dominated industries, would expect to earn twice as much."
At rallies across the country, union members voted to take further industrial action.
Sophie Jones from the Kurilpa Childcare Centre in Brisbane said they closed their doors at 3:20pm to represent the time they started working for free.
"It's not enough and we deserve more for what we do educating children in everyday life," she said.
"We want to keep our staff and unfortunately some of them can't stay afloat with the minimum wage."
Photo:
Lulu and Ted Healy join a protest for early childhood educators fighting for a pay rise in Brisbane. (ABC News: Laura Gartry)
'You can earn more money working in a supermarket'
Kylie Grey has worked as an early childhood educator for seven years, but she is now considering leaving the industry to find a better-paying job."I don't want to leave the sector that I've studied for, that I'm passionate about and I'm dedicated to, but it's a thought that's in my mind constantly, unfortunately," she said.
"You can earn more money going and working in a supermarket than you can teaching the children of Australia's future."
She said about 200 educators were leaving the industry every week nationally because of pay.
"I know of colleagues that have put off having children because the wages are so low," she said."I also know of colleagues who've been denied home loans, because they've been told by the banks that their wage is below the poverty line, and these are people that are educated, that are looking after children day in, day out, and educating for their future," she said.
Many parents who were inconvenienced by the strike said they were nonetheless supportive of the action, and said staff should be paid more.
Julia Spicer, the mother of a 19-month-old son who goes to the Dawson Street Childcare Co-operative in inner Melbourne, said she supported the educators' right to strike.
"It happens so rarely, and it's a worthwhile cause, so it's fine," she said.
"They do such a good job looking after these guys, it's nice to be able to leave them in hands that you trust."
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