Over a thousand early learning centres across the country will be forced to close their doors on March 8, as workers strike for better pay.
Early Education Director Helen Gibbons from the United Workers Union said, “Educators [are] forced to make the hard choice between the job they are so dedicated to, or leaving to find a job that can pay their bills.”
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Educators have been negotiating with government to set a new standard for wages in the sector, but Gibbons said that it’s time “to take unprecedented national action.”
Over 92 per cent of early childhood educators are women, and Union representatives believe this is part of the reason the sector has historically been undervalued and underpaid.
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