Unions have blasted the federal government's Victorian childcare rescue package, accusing the coalition of treating workers as second-class citizens.
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The Morrison government has offered a "triple guarantee" it says will secure places, centres and jobs during the state's heavy lockdown.
Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus described the measures as outrageous, with childcare workers still excluded from JobKeeper wage subsidies.
"It's completely wrong," she told ABC television on Thursday.
"Those childcare workers deserve the same as everyone else, which is a minimum of $1500 a fortnight. The fact that they don't is really a bit of a scandal."
Under Melbourne's stage four restrictions, only parents allowed to work will be able to send children to care.
Services will be given federal government subsidies to stay afloat and keep employees on.
Ms McManus called for staff to be treated the same as other sectors shut down by restrictions.
"Why should we have second-class citizens that are childcare workers, for god's sake, that are not getting that amount of money?"
Childcare workers lost access to JobKeeper on July 20 when the government switched to a transitional payment equal to 25 per cent of pre-pandemic revenue.
The rescue package jacked the payment up to 30 per cent of revenue in a bid to buttress the sector.
Providers must keep staff employed to remain eligible for the payment.
Australian Associated Press