“We deserve to be valued”

Name: Erica Ferrer

Occupation: Early Childhood Educator

Union: BCGEU

Erica Ferrer and her colleagues at the Malaika Toddler Program at the SFU Childcare Society are proud members of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU): they value the respect, fair wages, equality, support, and advocacy that a union can provide for its members. In addition to acknowledging the many advantages of union membership, Erica is a proud supporter the BCGEU’s “United Voice for Child Care” campaign, which addresses some of her core concerns for her profession.

There is a crisis in child care across BC, and Erica witnesses it firsthand every day. Erica has spent the past decade as an early childhood educator, and she is becoming increasingly concerned about the quality, affordability, and accessibility of BC’s child care. “We look at the lack of spaces and funding and we definitely need to send a strong message to the government that this is simply not good enough,” says Erica.

According to Erica and her colleagues, the answer is clear: in order to compensate Early Childhood Educators for the valuable work they do, a political solution is required. “We need the government to fund a public system.”

“It is extremely important for all early childhood educators to band together and educate people and create awareness about the importance of child care,” says Erica, adding that the BCGEU’s United Voice for Child Care campaign is a way for ECE’s to “better support each other, and get the word out [about the child care crisis].”

The BCGEU represents over 1,500 child care workers, with a vision to gain respect for child care providers, to build a public system, and to increase wages and benefits.

“Being a member of the BCGEU has given myself and other ECE’s a voice,” says Erica. “It’s good to know we have someone on our side in the workplace and standing up for our profession.”

The BCGEU is calling for more federal and provincial funding for a public child care system. According to Statistics Canada, child care wages in BC are dropping, and workers are being forced out of the field because of low pay. There is a huge and growing gap between what the average worker in BC earns compared to most child care workers. Although the child care situation in British Columbia continues to deteriorate, Erica remains optimistic. “The BCGEU is enabling us to strengthen our united voice through advocacy and to continually lobby the government,” adds Erica. “We are professionals and deserve to be valued.”