TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Child care workers and early childhood educators (ECEs) at the Learning Enrichment Foundation (LEF) have voted over 80 per cent in favour of joining the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
In a sector plagued by financial uncertainty and a long running workforce crisis, the unionization of 314 ECEs and early childhood assistants (ECAs) at LEF’s 25 sites across Toronto, is a promising development. These new members now join more than 5,000 child care workers represented by CUPE in Ontario who are actively fighting for higher wages, better benefits, pensions, and the protection of WSIB.
“Workers deserve a voice in decisions about how their workplaces operate. That became abundantly clear to LEF child workers this summer when LEF announced they would be cutting educators’ pay. Through organizing and joining CUPE, workers at LEF will now have a voice in their workplace and a seat at the table to negotiate a first contract,” says Liisa Schofield CUPE Organizer.
The delivery and implementation of the federally funded Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program has varied widely between provinces. Nova Scotia, for instance, announced in 2023 they’d be instituting a defined pension plan for all child care workers while British Columbia has committed to a fully funded wage grid.
Ontario has done neither. All the while, pay, benefits, and working conditions for Ontario child care workers fall further behind other jurisdictions, it’s become clear that the successful expansion of early education and care in this province cannot happen without improvements to working conditions to attract and retain skilled workers. It is estimated, Ontario will be short 8500 ECEs by 2026 as child care workers leave jobs they love because they don’t see a future in the sector.
“The government has stubbornly refused to implement the changes needed to address the workforce crisis,” says Christina Gilligan, associate coordinator for the child care sector at CUPE and a former ECE. “Unions are the way forward. Through unions, workers can push for the jobs and compensation they need and the investments in public services that families absolutely deserve.”
CUPE is committed to quality, affordable, publicly funded child care and to expanding the protections of a union to all child care workers so they can use their voice in collective bargaining to improve their lives.
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