In 2023, our members pioneered a new era of collective bargaining by launching Australia’s first multi-employer agreement, uniting 12,000 educators to fight for sector-wide change.
Union members shattered decades of fragmented enterprise bargaining by launching Australia’s first-ever multi-employer agreement in early childhood education. This groundbreaking action made possible by the governmentÕs new Secure Jobs, Better Pay legislation, united 12,000 educators across 64 employers to bargain collectively for better wages and conditions.
The significance of this move cannot be overstated – for the first time, educators could harness their collective power across multiple employers, fundamentally shifting the balance of power in the sector. By bringing the Federal Government to the bargaining table as the sector’s main funder, educators created new possibilities for achieving sector-wide improvements that would have been impossible through traditional single-employer bargaining.
This innovative approach laid the essential groundwork for the historic pay increases won in 2024, proving that when workers unite across traditional boundaries, they can achieve transformative change. The agreement set a powerful precedent for other feminised industries, showing how collective action can address systemic undervaluation of women’s work.
“I’m proud to be part of the first group of workers to use the new Multi-Employer Bargaining laws. It’s time to pay educators what they’re worth and build the sustainable early education sector that children and families deserve.” – Djarra Liotta-Ndiaye, Educator and United Workers Union Delegate