More than 100 Queensland childcare centres will shut their doors on Wednesday as workers walk off the job to fight for higher wages.
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Early childhood union United Voice says 7000 staff nationwide will walk out in protest over the sector’s "wage crisis."
The strike action will be the union’s fourth walk off in 18 months.
A rally is due to be held at 3pm in Queens Gardens in George Street, Brisbane, on Wednesday.
A United Voice spokeswoman told Fairfax Media that all centres were participating “with the full support of owners and parents”.
Brisbane-based early childhood educator Leah Malzard said it was time for the federal government to start valuing the important work of staff by funding professional pay.
“We are qualified professionals doing crucial work in our children’s earliest years, yet we are paid as little as $22 an hour - almost half the national average wage,” Ms Malzard said.
“Early childhood educators have had enough of this LNP government caring more about their own jobs than our work educating Australia’s next generation.
“Time is up for this government, we need equal pay now. A responsible government would have funded this already.
“We will be taking to the streets, holding political rallies in every state and territory to demand our politicians fund equal pay and recognise the importance of quality education.
“The current government has showed time and time again that they don’t care about our work, and they refuse to address this issue.”
Research by University of Queensland professor Karen Thorpe shows early childhood educators are leaving the sector in droves, with turnover rates of up to 33 per cent in metropolitan areas.
Meanwhile, data from United Voice shows educators only stay in the sector, on average, for just over three years and one in four plan on leaving the profession within the year.
Educators who take up further training or upgrade to an early childhood teaching degree are also the most likely to leave.
Certificate III-qualified educators, who assist in the design and delivery of educational programs, are paid $837 per week, which is significantly below the average weekly earnings of $1586 across all occupations.
A spokesman for new federal Education Minister Dan Tehan declined to answer questions on the walk out, the contingencies for parents affected by the strike action or comment on the minister’s views on the long-running dispute.
“We comment on issues where we have responsibility,” he said.
“We don’t provide running commentary on all issues in the child care sector.
“[These are questions] I would suggest for the union and the operators of these centres. The federal government has no role in the operation of these centres. You need to contact the operators of the childcare centres and find out what their contingencies are. We just pay the childcare subsidy.”
