Childcare centres close as thousands of workers strike over pay
More than 300 childcare centres across Australia shut their doors on Tuesday morning after thousands of workers walked off the job to demand higher pay.
As part of the industrial action, some centres will be shut for the entire day, while others are preparing to close rooms within their centres in order to send workers to attend Australia-wide protests at 2pm.
At least 6,500 staff are expected to walk off the job at some point on Tuesday to demand a 30 per cent pay hike after losing a Fair Work Commission equal pay test case in which they argued childcare work was undervalued due to gener inequality.
Helen Gibbons believes early childhood educators need to be paid more.
Photo: Supplied"There are about 320 centres that are closing today, from the east coast to the west coast," United Voice assistant national secretary Helen Gibbons said. ''In addition to that, many, many centres are closing rooms and sending delegations along to the various actions happening across the country.
''It's fairly obvious that this group of workers is masively undervalued and underpaid,'' she said. ''You think about the enormous responsibility that they carry, and that they are skilled professional educators ... and we are paying them as little as $21 an hour.''
Wages are paid from both parent fees and government funding, Ms Gibbons said, adding that any higher wages must come from the latter. ''Childcare is already expensive, it is already a significant part of the family budget, and nobody wants to drive up parent fees because that just drives children out of early education.
''The only thing that can shift is government funding.''
Ms Gibbons said Australia spent .49 per cent of GDP on early education, compared to the OECD average of .81 per cent. Comparitively, New Zealand spent .91 per cent of its GDP on early education.