Qld childcare workers to strike over pay

Working parents will have to find alternatives for their children on Thursday as childcare workers go on strike across southeast Queensland.

About 20 centres in Brisbane, Ipswich, on the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast will close their doors at 3.20pm in protest of the industry's low wages and the gender pay gap.

It is four times the number of Queensland-based organisations that took part in an earlier round of industrial action in March.

The United Voice union said in a statement more than 3000 educators across the country would walk off the job on Thursday.

Assistant national secretary Helen Gibbons said it would be the "biggest early education walk off in Australian history".

"It is one of Australia's most poorly paid professions; educators are only paid half the average wage," she said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Educators' pay doesn't come close to matching the highly skilled and professional nature of their work.

"Equal pay needs to be a national priority - in 2017 paying women less than men is not acceptable."

The 3.20pm walk-out represents the time childcare workers start working for free.