Unison's priorities set for early years

The manifesto, which includes Unison's policy priorities for all education staff from early years to university, calls for recognition that nursery education is key to providing equal opportunities for all children and tackling social exclusion, and for access to high-quality, affordable childcare for all children that is provided by properly trained and fairly paid staff.

Unison's priorities for staff are decent pay and a career structure. The manifesto says, 'Pay levels for early years staff should reflect their expertise and responsibilities in the education team. They are a very committed and professional group of staff and increasingly involved in the full responsibilities of the classroom, yet their salary is less than half of that of teachers.'

The manifesto argues that there should be sufficient opportunities for a career structure within the sector, but there is no career development path for early years staff in schools, even after years of gaining expertise and obtaining additional qualifications. It calls for employers to provide support for paid training to recognised standards.

Unison is also campaigning for a change in the law to bring in annual contracts for term-time workers, who are paid in the term-time only and cannot claim jobseeker's allowance during school holidays. Their conditions of service, including pensions, redundancy and holiday pay, are based only on the weeks they work and not on the whole year.