Japan professor exchange experiences with Australian unions

Jichiro, All Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers Union first introduced Professor Hagiwara to PSI affiliates in Australia, subsequently developing good relations with PSI.  The professor has been conducting research on the marketisation of ECEC sector from a social movement perspective and was interested to learn about the experiences of ECEC unions in Australia.

PSI Australia organized meetings with United Workers Union and PSI affiliate, Australian Services Union to share further on their experience. In the meetings, Australian ECEC unions shared the failure of marketisation of the sector over the last 20 years and how marketisation diminished respect, reduced pay, and eroded working conditions especially for the female workforce.  The unions also shared that marketisation negatively impacted the quality of education and care for children at the most important stage of development and rendered the services unaffordable for many families which negatively affected women’s labour participation. Despite this disturbing trend, the ASU was able to share the positive example of quality care and improved pay and conditions for ECEC workers employed in services that were still operated by local government, as well as the recent state government commitment to build and operate 50 new ECEC centers.