Steve MacLellan

Nan McFadgen told reporters CUPE members who work in daycare centres are not getting the wages their counterparts who work in the pre-primary system are getting.

“I’m confused about why when it [pre-primary] got brought into schools, it’s felt that the people teaching it in the schools should have a pension and a wage, but the people teaching it in child-care centres shouldn’t,” said McFadgen.

“I think that those in the schools should 100 per cent be able to retire in dignity, but that’s equally so for early childhood educators in child-care centres.”

According to CUPE, the salaries for its members working in child-care centres range from $27,000 to $38,000. However, the salaries for its members working in the pre-primary classrooms range from $44,000 to $46,000 annually.

Further, the union said most early childhood educators working in child-care centres do not have pensions and benefits, unlike their counterparts in the pre-primary program.