Disability care workers received a 9 per cent bump to their minimum award wages last July,and in November aged care workers were awarded a15 per cent pay rise by the Fair Work Commission.
The United Workers Union early education director,Helen Gibbons,said workers were continuing to leave the sector due to low pay and high stress,and the government needed to commit to a 25 per cent pay increase to give staff a reason to stay.
“It’s time to finally recognise the vital role early childhood educators play in children’s lives,” she said.
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“There will be a cost to the budget,but the far greater cost will be the impact to children,families,workers and the broader economy if the sector spirals further into crisis.”
Union member Debbie Zerbst already had 300 people on the waiting list at Clovelly Child Care Centre in Sydney when 20 more were added over the past two days.
“There is such a huge increase in demand,” she said. “What has happened is the numbers and ratios are so difficult to manage,so a lot of centres have had to close their doors because they couldn’t find staffing,so there’s a lack of places,and families are struggling to find centres.”