Pay and conditions for early childhood educators have gone backwards in the 12 years Djarra Liotta-Ndiaye has been working in the sector.
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As a result, the South Australian woman has seen a revolving door of colleagues leaving the industry in search of better remuneration.
"We can't even get agency workers when we're short-staffed," she said.
"It's really vital that we not only get people trained, but we get them into the job and we get them to stay in the job."
Ms Liotta-Ndiaye is one of the thousands of workers joining a union bid for multi-employer bargaining.
Unions representing workers at 20 different early childhood education employers across NSW, the ACT and Victoria on Tuesday lodged an application in the Fair Work Commission.
United Workers Union early education director Helen Gibbons said it was the first step towards a 25 per cent pay increase and improved conditions.
"We are very hopeful that we can get an agreement that is funded and that is going to really shift the dial on early education by the end of this year," she said.
The federal laws allowing multi-employer bargaining only came into effect on Tuesday, but Ms Gibbons said there was no time to waste.
"Early educators stood next to Minister Tony Burke when he passed these laws through the parliament at the end of last year," she said.
"It's really important to claim this space and to say there is an urgent need for early education to get through this crisis."
The action has the backing of groups including the Australian Education Union, Australian Childcare Alliance, Independent Education Union of Australia, Community Childcare Association and The Parenthood.
Georgie Dent, executive director of The Parenthood, said the ongoing workforce issues were creating problems for children, families and communities.
"There is not a child, family or employer who won't benefit from a properly paid and supported early childhood education and care workforce," she said.
G8 Education, one of the largest early education providers in Australia, has also voluntarily signed up to the multi-employer bargaining process.
"We want to attract and retain excellent team members to support delivery of the best outcomes for the children in our care," chief executive Pejman Okhovat said.
"We look forward to advocating, along with others, for government funding to support higher wages and for greater recognition of the important role our sector plays in social and economic outcomes."
The Fair Work Commission will consider the application, with hearings likely to take place in July.
If the commission grants the application, the unions will then start negotiating with the federal government and employers.
Australian Associated Press
