Childcare City of Zurich wants better employment conditions for childcare staff
On Wednesday evening, Zurich's municipal council backed the city council's "Childcare Roadmap" in principle. The goals: a gradual increase in the quality of daycare centers and better employment conditions for staff.
26.06.2024, 22:12
SDA
The SVP, FDP and Center/EPP parliamentary groups spoke out against the business. However, a referral motion from their ranks failed with 42 votes in favor and 70 against.
It came as no surprise that the majority of the municipal council voted in favor of the partial revision of the ordinance on supplementary family childcare proposed by the city council during the detailed consultation. The municipal council had previously called for corresponding amendments in motions and postulates. All of these motions have now been written off as closed.
In recent years, there has been a significant expansion in childcare places in the city of Zurich, said Marcel Tobler (SP). "Today there are enough places." The focus should now be on promoting quality and improving employment conditions. Tobler spoke of a "major reform".
Among other things, the city council wants to introduce a new funding instrument; thanks to basic contributions, daycare centers should be able to take quality measures. It also wants to hold talks about a collective labor agreement in the daycare sector - and it also wants to finance wage increases via basic contributions.
Daycare companies do a good job, but their resources are not sufficient to offer more than the minimum, argued the proponents. Thanks to the ordinance, there would be a gain in quality. Opponents, on the other hand, criticized, among other things, that it was unsystematic for private companies to pay higher wages, but that the city would then pay for these additional costs via the basic contributions.
The ordinance will now go to the drafting committee. The final vote will take place at one of the next meetings.
