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TRURO – The union representing most unionized child care workers in Nova Scotia is welcoming a review by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development aimed at improving child care services in the province.

CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh says, “We are particularly pleased to see Minister Karen Casey listing wages and benefits for early childhood educators as a priority, since this is directly tied to program quality in the sector.”

“Nova Scotia has the lowest paid Early Childhood Educators (ECE’s) in the country, and issues that have been surfacing in the last weeks about violations of policy in some centres are, in great part, a result of high staff turnover and low staffing levels due to inferior wages and working conditions.”

“As a province, we have to stop burying our heads in the sand on this problem, and CUPE is encouraged to see the minister addressing it as part of her review,” says Cavanagh.

The union which represents ECE’s in six centres in Halifax and in Bridgewater says it hopes the minister pays particular attention to the findings of the Nova Scotia Child Care Association’s Worthy Wage” campaign.

Says Cavanagh, “The association has already done a fair bit of work in establishing what would constitute a fair wage for child care workers in Nova Scotia, based on other jurisdictions and best practices.”