Childcare workers discuss pay woes

Press, 1 June 1988, Page 8

Childcare workers discuss pay woes

Thousands of early childhood workers throughout New Zealand stopped work yesterday to discuss troubled wage talks. About 200 workers rallied in Victoria Square. Early childhood workers were looking after the most important resource in the community, and were expected to accept rates of pay and conditions much less than kindergarten teachers and many unskilled workers, the president of the Canterbury District Council of Trade Unions, Mrs Hilary Brown, told the workers, i. There could be no argument for early childcare workers to receive regional rates of pay, she said. The union seeks a 15 per cent wage rise for its members, who are paid between $5.30 and $7.87 an hour, except in Otago and Southland where they are paid more. Employers have so far offered rates between $5.72 and $8.50. • About 120 members attended a Wellington stop-work meeting to protest against the lack of progress in the negotiations. Union members have never before taken strike action but a national strike was possible if employers did not move from their present position. The Employers’ Association advocate, Ms Fiona Rowe, said such an increase would drive fees up to a level which would force some parents to withdraw their children from centres. J,'