SFU daycare workers will launch a full-scale strike Monday, leaving more than 250 families to look for other child-care options.

Mediated talks between the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union broke down earlier this week, a last-ditch effort to reach a settlement.

The union represents 67 child-care workers who want higher wages and pensions. Senior workers currently make $16 per hour.

"We've got these dedicated caregivers who, after 25 years of service, are retiring without a pension," union spokesperson Chris Mullen said in an interview.

"It's unconscionable."

The centre serves faculty and students at Simon Fraser University, and provides roughly a quarter of the under-three care available in Burnaby.

Rotating job action shut down one of the society's 12 programs each day during the summer.

Pat Frouws, executive director of the society, said workers are trying to pressure the province and SFU for more funding.

"We're convinced that there's a bigger agenda on their part," Frouws said, adding pensions were rolled back after the province cut child-care funding.

Last week, Frouws said parents will have to "scramble" to find other child-care options during the strike.

The society isn't requiring parents to pay for days their program is closed.

In December, the federal government cut a child-care agreement that would have funneled about $455 million in funding to B.C. over the next three years.

The provincial government then announced it would have to reduce child-care funding, too.

According to the society's fee listing, the cost for full-time care for a child in the three-to-18-month group is $1,022, $952 for the 12-to-36-month group and $636 for programs for three- to-five-year-olds.