Hundreds of childcare centres are expected to be shut on Tuesday as thousands of workers get ready to walk off the job demanding higher pay.
More than 300 centres Australia-wide are expected to participate in rolling closures on Tuesday as the industry pushes for a 30 per cent pay rise for workers, most of whom are women.
Union United Voice said about 6,500 of the nation's 100,000-strong workforce will participate, with parents urged to make alternative arrangements for their children.
"Twenty-one dollars an hour does not reflect the value of educators' work, their professional qualifications or the value of the children they educate," the union's assistant national secretary Helen Gibbons said in a statement on Monday.
It's unclear just how many parents, particularly women, could be forced to take the day off work because of the action, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.
"Anyone who's ever been a parent with a child in childcare would know that making alternative arrangements can be complicated and difficult, and quite often the option is to take the day off," chamber spokeswoman Jenny Lambert told AAP.
United Voice said Tuesday's walk-off followed the federal government's failure to meet a February 1 union-imposed deadline to deliver funding for equal pay.
The Fair Work Commission last month rejected an application for a 35 per cent pay rise for childcare workers.
The federal government has previously said it does not set wages, which are a matter for the Fair Work Commission.
In a statement Education and Training Minister Simon Birmingham told AAP he expected early learning and childcare centres to pay workers "as much as they can afford".
"The role of government is not to run those centres but to help families access affordable care," the minister said.
