Water & Ports
Move to Parramatta Should Not Cut Quality of Childcare
- Details
- Published on Monday, 07 July, 2008
Sydney water head quarters is moving to Parramatta and the need to establish a new
childcare centre follows this move.
Providing quality childcare services is necessary to encourage the return of workers with young children. such a provision is essential, particularly from companies with a high number of employees.
Sydney Water are not establishing their own childcare centre at Parramatta, however they are reserving a specific number of places for Sydney Water staff at a privately owned centre. This means they relinquish control over the choice of management and therefore ultimately the quality of the childcare centre.
Staff were invited to visit and comment on the Virginia Street Childcare Centre before a final decision was made. The majority of the staff who visited the centre were happy. However many staff have been taking their children to the same childcare place for years. Taking them out after they have made friendships and connections with the carers will potentially be disrupting to the children. Sydney Water will retain their current centres and these are still available to staff with the same benefits as currently provided but the location will not be practicable for the majority of staff working at Parramatta.
Members have accepted that the decision to move centres has been made, and are pleased with the new centre and negotiated fees, but there is disappointment that the current shuttle bus service that makes commuting so convenient, is not being replicated at the new site, which is a distance from the new Head Quarters.
Decisions about childcare have been made early on and while information has been provided there has not been genuine consultation with the union or affected employees. Several information sessions were held although the best attempt at consultation was a Q&A session with Peter Mills which was essentially a forum to dictate information rather than including people as part of the decision making process.
