On Friday 5 April, I could hear a buzz as I walked towards the meeting room in the IEU’s Sydney office. It was the excited and hopeful voices of our preschool teacher ambassadors ready to launch the IEU’s pay rise for preschools campaign, Unite for Change.
We’re calling for a fair deal for preschool teachers through a new supported bargaining approach for one agreement that would cover community-based preschools across NSW.
Supported bargaining is designed to assist employers and employees who haven’t been able to bargain successfully at the individual enterprise level to bargain together as a group.
The campaign launch day was filled with members and guest speakers exuding energy and passion.
Sharing stories of successful change along with critical reflection, speakers and members paved the way towards a 25% pay rise for beginning preschool teachers across NSW, with a call for the NSW Government to fund these increases. Key statements of the day included:
- The critical work undertaken by early childhood teachers does not match the pay and conditions of teachers in schools, highlighting a big pay gap for early childhood teachers across the sector.
- The Australian Education Union’s Cara Nightingale spoke about the journey in Victoria to establish the Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement in that state, a landmark agreement achieving pay parity with school teachers (see above).
- We are all committed to action, no matter how big or small, in our collective approach to unite for change.
Read the full story: Unite for change - IEU launches pay rise campaign for preschools