Government's $300 million wages funding!

[dulciean]

I had to drop in to see what everyone thinks of the announcement today that the Commmonwealth Government is funding a $300 million package to be delivered over 2 years expressly to raise our wages.
LA - or someone techno- could you post a link for folk to read? I believe this is reported tyo be about a 15 % increase.
It's certainly a step in the right direction!

[Lorina]

Thanks Dulciean for the heads up!

Here are links:

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/ ... 719857.htm

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/politics ... up-15.html

From what I read it seems like the funding is only for the cert 3 qualification, with a wage increase of $3...

,
L.A

[claire10]

As Far as I can make out it will all those with a cert three who will get the pay rise and then those with a Cert four and above will get a pay rise in increments
SO can any one tell me what those increments are likely to be ?
THis is a much needed wage boost for us all but as I was talking about it today we noticed that if the wages of a cert three person increase by three Dollars then she will be only earning fifty cents less that the Level fours.

Could this mean that there will be a flurry of levels fours becoming level threes ???? which looks very good on the new standards that are being enforced at the moment

[KatG73]

this big announcement is not a good news for privately owned centres who do not have access to these grants. In order for us to meet these wage increase, we now need to increase the daily fees for families in our centres. Parents are not happy about it and if we dont increase the daily fees, then we need to find another way to manage these additional costs. So its not all good news for centres like mine.

[Barbie]

There are many strings attached to get the funding basically owners have to agree not to put the fees up, have 100% union membership amongst staff or commit to a quality reform ensuring there are enough staff to cover correct ratios and qualifieds. I showed my managers and they scoffed at it. I am not impressed as i work for one already paying more than $3 above the award and have always taken pride in the higher pay but now we are going to be equally paid with most other centres after they get the rise that i doubt mine will qualify for.

To be honest this big steps campaign and united voice seem to only care about Goodstart centres as i worked there previously and there were always union reps pushing people into signing up. Considering their award is only $18.58 an hour for Cert III across the country i would still be on more than them after they get this rise.

[catchmeifucan]

Good Topic for discussion!

I was reading here that the wage increase is from $3 to $5 depending on the qualification you have. As we know cert 3 qualifications are going to get at least $3 however no one has stated how much for diplomas or ect's as yet.

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/ch ... 6601932458

@ KatG- Apparently centres who don't apply or receive grants don't have to pay for the wage increase. I found this in the above link:

"Centres who do not apply for or receive grants are not obliged to provide the corresponding wage increases," the spokeswoman said.

however if this is the case how many childcare workers would want to stick around?

@ Barbie -

To be honest this big steps campaign and united voice seem to only care about Goodstart centres as i worked there previously and there were always union reps pushing people into signing up. Considering their award is only $18.58 an hour for Cert III across the country i would still be on more than them after they get this rise.

I totally agree!

There are many strings attached to get the funding basically owners have to agree not to put the fees up, have 100% union membership amongst staff or commit to a quality reform ensuring there are enough staff to cover correct ratios and qualifieds

Thats what I thought too. But the above link says that "union membership for workers would not be compulsory". So I am not sure. I will not be happy if union membership is compulsory. After so many years us childcare workers are getting a pay rise and the union seems to be the one gaining if union becomes compulsory! Doesnt make sense to me.. I also think that now union is going to take all credit for this increase by the government.

Also another questions remains - what happens after the two years funding? If the government stops these fundings after 2 years, would the centres continue to maintain these wages? How will they manage it then?

[Barbie]

Union membership isn't compulsory its 100% of staff on union membership OR they must meet a certain criteria which i believe they are still working on (something to do with the NQS) Its probably illegal to say all have to be in the union plus what centre is really going to allow unions in mine was bad enough when accreditors came.

Its funny because this whole rise was brought about to reduce turnover so staff can form lasting bonds with children however by only offering 27-40% of centres this rise (figure being reported) it is going to cause extreme upheaval in the sector. I for one will seriously consider changing centres if mine dont apply for it out of principle that they should be going into bat for their workers. Ive been getting congratulations emails from friends and family today because they way the media reported it made it sound as if we are all getting the rise. So very disheartening

[dulciean]

Hmmmm... I guess it's all a bit early to tell exactly how this funding will actually affect us in the sector- perhaps best to wait for the dust to settle and then we will know just what is happening. There are Conflicting reports out there- time will tell I guess!!

[Barbie]

http://www.facebook.com/bigstepscampaig ... 4977549548

[catchmeifucan]

Its funny because this whole rise was brought about to reduce turnover so staff can form lasting bonds with children however by only offering 27-40% of centres this rise (figure being reported) it is going to cause extreme upheaval in the sector.

The funding is not enough. Its short by another $300 million dollars atleast! Its a shame that this effort is not going to make a difference for "all" childcare professionals. its not good when only a small percentage of workers can enjoy the benefit while the others wondering what happened to their share, left in a dilemma to whether they need to start looking for a job elsewhere or not. It will be interesting to see if this has a positive or a negative impact in childcare. No idea... but interesting to see how it unfolds.

[dulciean]

It does smack of ' oh it's an election year' ....
Still I'm hopeful and optimistic the future will bring better things for us. It's just the way I roll !

[LindyT]

This rise is great for those who qualify.
Family Day Care is left out of this arrangement.

[fchaudari76]

That is no good Lindy

I and a few others at my centre have joined the union and everyone I know wants this pay rise. I am sure things are more complicated than they seem, however I decided that at least finally they have managed to get something positive and what I pay is tax deductible so not really losing anything

[Barbie]

Heard a rumour that the Australian Childcare Alliance group (see thier facebook) is opposing the $3 an hour rise for SOME instead suggesting $1 per hour for ALL
http://www.change.org/petitions/austral ... ialog_true

[Lorina]

Important Info:

NO MORE - $300 Million Boost For Wage Increase

,
L.A