Childcare workers strike over pay and precarious conditions

Spain

Members of the CCOO trade union in early years education have taken three days of strike action with a fourth planned for 15 November. They also came from all regions of Spain to join a national demonstration in Madrid on 2 November as part of their campaign to secure improvements to pay and secure real progress after over two years of negotiations with private sector employers. The union wants action to address precarious employment conditions and has had to resort to industrial action to put pressure on the employers to negotiate on the issue. The union argues that pay and working conditions fail to compensate for the wide-ranging responsibilities of childcare workers and the level of training required of them.

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Sep. 16, 2021

Childcare workers continue strike campaign

Netherlands

On 14 September 660 childcare facilities across the country were hit by national strike action coordinated by the FNV trade union. This is part of a campaign, running since July, that has involved regional stoppages as well as an earlier day of national strike action. The union wants the employers to negotiate a collective agreement that includes concrete measures to tackle excessive workloads and unpredictable working hours. The FNV says that the employers are looking to the government for solutions but argues that there are practical measures that the employers could take such as hiring

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Apr. 28, 2023

Childcare workers take to streets over pay, jobs and funding

Belgium

A trade union alliance involving the CNE, CSC Services Publics, CGSP, SETCA, CGSLB and SLPF coordinated a demonstration in Brussels on 26 April to raise concerns about the state of childcare provision. The protest involved a delegation meeting with the minister for children and health in the Brussels-Wallonia Federation with demands to tackle the long-standing problems of understaffing and precarious work and to prevent the extension of private, for-profit provision across the sector. The union were supported by non-profit providers in the sector.

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Jun. 23, 2021

Childcare workers in action

Italy Netherlands

Following a national day of action on 18 June, workers in childcare, playgroups and after-school care will begin a campaign of industrial action in the Netherlands from 23 June. Different workplaces will be targeted at different times and various forms of strikes and other industrial action will be organised. The action is over excessive workloads and has been launched following the failure of the BMK and BK employer organisations to respond to an ultimatum from the FNV trade union. The union is warning that employees’ wellbeing is under threat and the quality of service will be compromised if

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