Celebrating child care workers and early childhood educators
Oct. 22 marks the seventh annual day of appreciation for child care workers and early childhood educators
Ottawa (17 Oct. 2008) ... The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is joining with Canadians across the country in acknowledging the contributions made by child care workers and early childhood educators in the development of children, families and communities.
The eighth annual Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day is being celebrated on October 22, 2008. This year for the first time an award to recognize the importance of child care advocacy work will be presented. The inaugural recipient will be Madame Pauline Marois, who was the driving force behind Quebecs low cost child care system. The award will be presented at a Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day celebration event in Toronto, where Marois will be the keynote speaker.
Show your appreciation
Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day is the result of ongoing efforts by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) and its members. The OCBCC was founded in 1981 to advocate for universally accessible, quality, non-profit regulated child care in the province of Ontario.
The OCBCC has developed an electronically editable Certificate of Appreciation. The certificate states: -In recognition of all child care workers who provide quality care to children and families and allow parents the opportunity to improve their quality of life and contribute to Canadian Society. Your daily efforts in the delivery of quality care is appreciated by families and communities province wide." Certificate of Appreciation Certificate pdf
NUPGE national president James Clancy is encouraging people to print out a certificate and present it to a child care worker or early childhood educator as a way of saying thank you for all they do and the difference they make in childrens lives.
-I also encourage Canadians to join with the National Union in continuing to lobby both provincial and federal representatives to establish a national universal early learning and child care program in which these dedicated workers can continue to play a key role in shaping our childrens social, physical, emotional and cognitive development," Clancy says.
Coalition partners
The OCBCC membership includes representatives from education, health care, labour, child-welfare, injury prevention, rural, First Nations, Francophone, social policy, anti-poverty, professional, and student and womens organizations. They serve community-based child care programs, local child care coalitions and coordinate the activities of eight Child Care Action Networks (CCANs) across the province.
The OCBCC has been assisted by several labour partners in its efforts to establish a day of appreciation for child care workers and early childhood educators. These partners include the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the United Steelworkers (USWA), the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO).
The Coalition is a public awareness organization and a non-partisan political action group, which works to bring the benefits of early childhood education and care to the attention of the public and policy makers. NUPGE
More information:
- Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Certificate
- Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care
- NUPGE and Child Care
Web posted by NUPGE: 17 October 2008
http://www.nupge.ca/news_2008/n17oc08c.htm