News brief: Early childhood educators deserve equal pay for equal work regardless of where they work, union says
“KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – There is a substantial wage and benefits gap between Early Childhood Educators (ECE) employed by child care centres and those who work at the provincial pre-primary program offered in all elementary schools throughout the province.
The imbalance in compensation was a direct result of the roll-out of the pre-primary program by the province in 2017.
At a press conference at Province House, hosted by Nova Scotia NDP MLA Claudia Chender, early childhood educators and CUPE Nova Scotia president Nan McFadgen explained why this is not only unfair, it’s also creating all kinds of problems for child care centres throughout the province.
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‘What the folks here today are asking for is absolutely essential to gender equality. This is a request for equal pay for equal work and the recognition of the value of care work,’ said Chender.
Chender alluded to a recent CCPA report that showed that $10.8 million in federal funding in support of the early childhood educator workforce remained unspent in Nova Scotia.
‘What we’re seeing here is the province making choices about where they want to match funds, and where they want to leverage federal dollars. It defies logic that you wouldn’t leverage the maximum number of federal dollars in this case,’ Chender said.”