decent work

Excerpted from survey description

Association for Early Childhood Educators Ontario: Decent Work and Anti-Racism Survey

Thank you for your interest in sharing your voice with us. The Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO), in partnership with the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) and the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development, has been leading the Decent Work Campaign which is focused on building the collective voice of ECEs and early years staff in the fight for decent work and professional pay. This survey is designed to help inform future work under this campaign, including but not limited to policy recommendations to the Ontario Ministry of Education, the research and development of a salary grid, and the definition of decent work standards. As well, your voice and experience will help the AECEO to revisit and update our existing project documents, including but not limited to the Decent Work Charter and supporting documents.

Supports for participants:

 We want to acknowledge that the following questions may trigger past or present experiences and may cause feelings to arise for you. We have included here a list of resources available to you. As well, we acknowledge that often resources alone are insufficient in supporting you through a response to sharing your story and experiences. We would like to also extend an opportunity to connect with your peers and colleagues to reflect on these experiences, be listened to and supported. Should you wish to meet with others to share and debrief your experience in filling out this survey, please email info@aeceo.ca and we can organize the opportunity to come together with a facilitator. We may also be able to connect you with one of our regional Communities of Practice or the Community of Black ECEs. Your voices and experiences matter to us, and we are here to listen.

We would also like to share that there will be upcoming community consultations that are exclusively for BIPOC educators and will be facilitated by BIPOC educators. This may offer another opportunity to share your story and feel supported and connected in the community. We will offer both one on one and group consultations so you can participate in a way that is meaningful for you. In order to maintain your confidentiality in relation to this survey, please email info@aeceo.ca if you are interested in being notified about the community consultations.

Intentionality and positioning:

 We value your voice and experience. It matters to us and it is integral to policy dialogue and development. We know that there is an existing data gap, and we are hoping to better understand regional and racial wage gaps, challenges in your working conditions, and your pedagogical experiences. Your stories are important for highlighting what steps we need to take to ensure that all ECEs and early years staff are respected, valued and experience decent work. We have been intentional in bringing together a committee to work on this project that includes BIPOC educators. We have done this with an acknowledgement that the AECEO has been a white-led organization and that our work has not always centred the voices and experiences of BIPOC educators. We have hired BIPOC educators as research assistants to collaborate on survey/consultation development, to analyze and interpret the data, and to participate in writing reports etc. that emerge. We have done this not just because of how they self-identify, but because of their experiences, talents and skills. We want to be transparent and honest about our intentions, as we do not take this work on in a performative manner, but are working to do this authentically.

EXCERPTS

Early Learning and Child Care in Nova Scotia continues to operate in a critical state.  Retention and recruitment have been at crisis for years due to a patchwork system that has been subsidized by and built on the backs of Early Childhood Educators (ECEs).

Government promised to develop a compensation framework, outlined in the bilateral agreement and provided vague language in the workforce strategy that both commit to addressing these issues by the end of 2022.

With expansions planned for early Fall and the promise of 9500 new spaces, this promise risks coming too late.

Government must:

• Raise wages effective immediately
• Ensure all ECEs have access to benefits and pensions
• Prioritize all ECEs' access to paid sick leave

Send a letter to our political leaders and let them know that The Time is Now, because there will be no additional child care spaces without additional ECEs.

Join the AECEO, OCBCC and TCBCC for an afternoon webinar to share stories, hear from a labour and human rights lawyer, and talk about collective action to address the unique challenges of a child care operator.