Early childhood teachers, campaigning for pay equity will take historic action tomorrow by holding paid union meetings.
The move will see some early childhood centres close for about two hours.
It’s an inaugural step for teachers covered by two collective agreements, as they meet to discuss next steps in their pay parity negotiations.
Early childhood teachers are paid on average, 24 per cent less than teachers in kindergarten and primary school with the same qualifications.
The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa members, covered by the Early Childhood Education Collective Agreement (ECECA) and Barnardos collective agreement, work in more than 130 centres across the country.
Anneke Bhat, a member of the Early Childhood Education Collective Agreement negotiation team, says what’s needed is government intervention.
“The employers in both of these agreements have been clear that they’ll return to the table if the Government provides more funding – they want to see pay parity too. On average we’re paid 24% less than teachers in Kindergarten. We’re not asking for that to be fixed in one go, but what we do need is a clear plan for how the Government is going to fix the gap,” she says.
“Early childhood education is broken and we need the Government to step in. The teacher shortage is only going to get worse as the pay gap widens – and that’s not good for children. If we value children, then we need to start valuing ECE.”
The meetings will involve Collectively Kids, Barnados and single, independent centres and will see early childhood education centres close for about two hours, NZEI says.
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