5,000 signatures reached
To: Clive Barratt, Diane Barratt, Matthew Pilkington
Support for Orchard Day Nursery Staff
We are writing in support of the Orchard Day Nursery Staff.
We value the work they undertake to look after the most important people in our lives, our children. They provide excellent professional and often specialist care to them, which we greatly appreciate and wish for you to recognise.
We fully support their campaign to improve their pay, terms and conditions in work. Including their right to organise collectively with the assistance of their chosen trade union UNISON.
Therefore, we call upon you to constructively meet with the staff and their selected representatives in order to resolve the current dispute.
Why is this important?
The Early Years Sector is one of the most important sectors in the economy providing professional and specialist care for under 5s. Our early childhoods, the time from pregnancy to five, fundamentally shape our whole lives.
However, due to decades of underfunding and privatisation the highly trained staff working in this sector are all too often under paid.
Early Years (under 5’s) Private and Voluntary Sector are often working in hostile working environments, with low staffing levels, high stress levels, low pay and poor terms and conditions.
According to the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), nurseries across the UK are being forced to close at an alarming rate due to recruitment and retention problems. A survey carried out by the Early Years Alliance found there are growing staff shortages in the early years sector. The Alliance found out 84 per cent of settings are finding it ‘difficult’ to recruit the right staff, 60 per cent are finding it ‘very difficult’ and 24 per cent are finding it ‘quite difficult’. More than a third of people who answered the survey said they are actively considering leaving the sector.
Research suggests that high quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can have positive and long-lasting impacts on children’s outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged children.
By signing this petition, you will assist in addressing some of the problems outlined above for the benefit of future generations, by ensuring those working in the sector receive the proper reward and recognition for the vitally important work they do.