United Services Union & the Early Childhood Educators Award
Building better conditions Sign our pledgeDownload Draft ECEC Award ScheduleWhy? Why is the world like this?
Young children ask why all day, and early educators have questions too.
Why are we working additional duties with additional responsibilities with no higher duties pay?
Why do we need to do programming in our own time? Why do we need to pay for our essential ongoing training?
Why are centres unable to manage staffing so that we can get our breaks, our programming time and our training covered?
Why are Council-run centres squeezing its teachers? Local Council early childhood educators used to have the best working conditions, why not now?
We care about the children, but why should we have to put up with this? Your union, the USU, negotiates the Local Government (State) Award that covers all local council workers. Some Councils have their own closely connected Award, and you could too!
The USU is asking: The children and their families appreciate you and your expertise, how about your employer?
What does professional recognition look like? It’s a dedicated Award that addresses the specific challenges of the sector which can keep up with the ever-changing demands of your jobs.
What needs to change? A dedicated Award is an opportunity for early childhood educators to directly address the challenges of the sector.
The Award, the Union, and you: The building blocks for better conditions.
November 2024
Please take your time to look at the proposed new ECEC Splinter Award and the ECEC specific amendments to the LG (State) Award.
We will be holding an information session on this package tomorrow night
Tuesday, 12 November in our ECEC members catch-up via MS teams. Join at 7pm here: https://msteams.link/BVEG
May & June 2024
In the last month, 23 meetings were held with early education leaders across NSW. The primary agenda was to seek endorsement for the draft Early Childhood Education and Care schedule.
The majority of votes were yes!
This is the first step in improving working conditions in your workplace. Now that members have endorsed the draft we will enter into further negotiations with Local Government NSW.
Draft ECEC Award Schedule
March 2024
HISTORY MAKING AWARD DELAYED BY EMPLOYER NEGOTIATION TEAM!
July 2023 –
You may have heard we have commenced meetings to start discussions on an Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Award.
Two meetings have been held with employer representatives and the next one was scheduled for the 6th July 2023.
On the 17th May 2023 the USU supplied our negotiation log of claims to the employer negotiation team. They requested time to review before responding.
It has been 7 weeks since this occurred and the USU has been advised that they are not ready to meet as not all Councils have had the opportunity to provide feedback!
CAMPAIGN UPDATE – LOG OF CLAIMS FOR THE AWARD
May 2023 – We have been visiting early education centres across Sydney and have now commenced formal discussions on an Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Award. Two meetings have been held with employer representatives and the next one is scheduled for 6 July 2023.
Some of the highlights of the log of claims are:
- Educational Leader and Nominated Supervisor Allowance
- Mandated programming time
- Additional Sick Leave
The Award, the Union, and you: The building blocks for professional recognition.
SIGN OUR PLEDGE
Join others who have signed the pledge to learn how you can be involved in this campaign to improve the working conditions of educators in local government.
We’re visiting you soon
Your Union will be visiting your centre soon to meet with members and update you on the development of a ECEC Award in Local Government.
Get Involved
Keep an eye out for communications from your Union on our visit date, or contact your workplace Organiser to confirm when the Union campaign team will be visiting your centre. You can also view the visitation schedule below.
We ask all members to spread the word to their colleagues and encourage them to join our Union so we can build a strong Award for early education members across the state.
Our visits
| Council | Visit Date 2 | Visit Date 3 |
| Bayside Council | 28-Aug | 27-Nov |
| Blacktown City Council | 10-Jul | 9-Oct |
| Campbelltown City Council | 3-Jul | 25-Sep |
| Canada Bay City Council | 21-Aug | 20-Nov |
| Canterbury-Bankstown Council | 7-Aug | 30-Oct |
| City of Sydney Council | 4-Sep | 4-Dec |
| Cumberland Council | 17-Jul | 16-Oct |
| Fairfield City Council | 24-Jul | 23-Oct |
| Georges River Council | 7-Aug | 30-Oct |
| Inner West Council | 31-Jul | 6-Nov |
| Ku-Ring-Gai Council | 4-Sep | 4-Dec |
| Lane Cove Council | 4-Sep | 4-Dec |
| Liverpool City Council | 3-Jul | 25-Sep |
| Northern Beaches Council | 14-Aug | 13-Nov |
| Parramatta Council | 21-Aug | 20-Nov |
| Penrith City Council | 11-Sep | 11-Dec |
| Randwick City Council | 28-Aug | 27-Nov |
| The Hills Shire Council | 21-Aug | 20-Nov |
| Waverley Council | 28-Aug | 27-Nov |
| Willoughby City Council | 14-Aug | 13-Nov |
| Woollahra Municipal Council | 28-Aug | 27-Nov |
| Sutherland | 18-Sep |
Our members
