Deborah Lawson, chair of the PANN section committee, has put forward a motion on the issue at the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) annual conference held in Buxton, Derbyshire this week.
The motion calls on the Government 'to recognise the vital role played by nursery nurses, teaching assistants and other support staff.'
Talking to Nursery World before the conference, Ms Lawson said, 'Why should childcare and early years workers be the only people within the education sector who are not paid a good salary for an excellent day's work?
'PANN has been promoting the need for a national pay and career structure for a number of years, but the childcare agenda is really expanding now. We need more people to work in childcare, but with low rates of pay there will be no incentive for skilled graduates to enter the profession.
'We have relied for too long on the caring nature of people within the sector. We now need to fight for the equal pay that childcare and early years workers deserve.'
If the motion is carried at the conference then PANN will make the introduction of a national pay structure a priority for next year. Ms Lawson said, 'PANN will look for lobbying opportunities and develop a strategy to carry the motion forward.'
Richard Fraser, a spokesman for PAT, said, 'For many years, PAT has promoted the concept of the "whole team" in schools, a belief that is reflected in our membership structure. PAT policy supports the introduction of national salary scales and a career structure for all support staff in schools.'
In total, 21 motions were put forward at the PAT annual conference. Access the full list at www.pat.org.uk.