Childcare workers strike for better conditions

GEELONG early childhood workers joined thousands people who attended a nationwide “shutdown” of the sector, demanding better wages and reforms to working conditions.

More than 20 workers from three centres in Geelong – including Goodstart and Kardinia Early Learning – travelled to Melbourne on September 7 for a rally from Federation Square to Fitzroy Gardens.

Carmel Heinelt, who attended the event with colleagues, said she was frustrated by persistent undervaluing of employees in the sector.

“My centre was great, they supported me taking the time off… but the system is just broken, it’s getting rorted in so many ways,” she said.

“It’s profit before children, we’re numbers not people. I work full time, I shouldn’t have to work an extra job to pay a mortgage, I don’t live an extravagant lifestyle… and it’s getting worse.”

Ms Heinelt, who has more that 21 years’ experience, said she supplements her income by working in hospitality on weekends, which she said was not uncommon among employees in the sector.

“We get a little pay rise every time the low-income workers wage goes up, but it’s still a low wage,” Ms Heinelt said.

With over 665 centres nationally and more than 15,000 employees, Goodstart said it had been working with union delegates to keep all its centres open, but supported educators attending rallies and their calls for a wage rise.

“Early childhood educators and teachers should be paid wages comparable to government schools, because both sectors are equally important to children’s learning and development,” Goodstart CEO Julia Davison said, noting that vacancies in the workforce were twice pre-pandemic levels.

“Goodstart will continue to advocate for fairer wages for educators funded by government, and we thank the many business, union and policy leaders who have supported that call.”

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the federal government believed a partial solution to the issue was through its push for collective bargaining, an issue raised at the recent jobs summit.

“We’ve been talking about multi-employer bargaining because in the feminised sector, bargaining is broken, it doesn’t work, and they haven’t been getting the pay rises that they should be getting.

“We want early child care educators to be well-paid and we think the answer to some degree lies with making sure the bargaining system works for women.”