Childcare workers with a certificate III are paid an hourly award rate of $21.29 – close to half the average Australian wage of $40.62 per hour.
Compare this however to the current hourly award rate for a third-year assistant in nursing – just $20.63.
The childcare workers have asked families to support a “big walk-off” and keep their children at home on March 27 after the Federal Government failed to meet an industry-set deadline to raise wages by 1 February.
They want a 30% government-funded increase in the award rate. The protest will be the industry’s third national strike in 12 months.
Both have equal cause for complaint.
