Childcare workers’ new pay walkout

TASMANIAN early childhood education workers will walk off the job on Thursday as part of an Australia-wide pursuit of higher wages.

Thousands of others across the country will also demand better wages as part of the action.

At 3.20pm on Thursday childcare workers will leave work — the time they say they start working for free because of low wages.

The second early education strike of the year will be the biggest in Australian history and will affect about 10,000 families.

United Voice state secretary Jannette Armstrong said about 400 Tasmanian workers from 20 centres would take part.

Ms Armstrong said the participation number was around five times as many as the last strike in March.

“Last time was the first time but now people have seen what’s possible,” she said. “Workers have had enough of it and want to see action.

“They want to see equal pay for the work they do.”

Un ited Voice union assistant national secretary Helen Gibbons said Australia’s early childhood educators had appalling levels of pay that only earn about $21 an hour.

Ms Gibbons said the early learning sectors’ low wages stemmed from the profession being seen as women’s work, and that they did for the love of it alone.

“It is outrageous that in 2017 female-dominated industries are still fighting to receive equal pay,” she said.

“Prime Minister, love does not pay the bills, it does not pay your mortgage or your energy bills.”

She said an application for a 35 per cent increase was with the Fair Work Commission.

Ms Gibbons said about 180 workers left the industry each week as they could no longer afford to work in the profession.

It’s the sector’s second walk-off this year after action in March failed to influence the Federal Budget.

“They [politicians] could fix this tomorrow if they had the political will,” Ms Gibbons said.

“Educators are not going to give up.”

There are about 80,000 educators working in the sector, teaching about 700,000 children in 6900 centres across Australia.