Scotland's Carers Demand Recognition
The GMB's Gary Smith demands proper recognition for Scotland's undervalued and underpaid care workers.
"Social care was already in crisis before Covid-19 - a workforce of mainly low-paid women chronically undervalued and exploited for years, an inconvenient truth well understood in the Holyrood bubble which did little to tackle it."
In the last public sector pay round, Scottish Ministers decided that low paid carers were worth 4% less than school teachers.
Will Scotland's care staff get 4% increase this year because they deserve no less!
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/care-heroes-deserve-better-pay-after-this-wretched-year-2h9jj33bj
Care heroes deserve better pay after this wretched year
By Gary Smith - The Times
To mark the anniversary of the UK’s first lockdown, at noon and 8pm today the country will hold a minute’s silence to remember those who have lost their lives in the pandemic. These moments of reflection will be particularly heartfelt in our care homes and among social care workers.
As we emerge from the grip of winter and a severe second wave, it would be understandable if the tragedy of Covid-19 and care slipped off the public’s radar. That it should already be forgotten by some of our most prominent politicians is not. Social care was already in crisis before Covid-19 — a workforce of mainly low-paid women chronically undervalued and exploited for years, an inconvenient truth well understood in the Holyrood bubble which did little to tackle it.
That’s why we asked the first minister for a national social care plan before the first lockdown, pulling together the public and private sectors with responsibility for personal protective equipment, testing and the standardisation of pay and conditions of workers. Instead, our carers endured a year blighted by failure. Proper PPE guidance and provision, sick pay support funding, workplace testing and mental health support all had to be fought for while half of all first wave fatalities occurred in care home settings. Throughout, ministers were “clapping for our carers”.
That failure persists after a budget that cements most carers on the living wage of £9.50 an hour, the minimum a worker requires to meet the basics. Despite the Feeley review demonstrating the transformative impact a significant pay increase for social care workers could have on the sector and the wider economy, the Scottish government and the Greens showed their appreciation for our carers by giving them an increase of less than a tenner a week. As we’ve learnt this week, there is no guarantee that this paltry uplift will even make the April pay run.
It rounds off a wretched year for our social care workforce. A third of Scotland’s 9,800 Covid-related fatalities have occurred in residential care homes. At the heart of a crisis within a crisis these workers have shown courage and suffered tragedy, but they have been consistently failed by government. And as the country falls silent, you would forgive these frontline heroes for thinking: has it really all been worth it?
Gary Smith is Scotland secretary of the GMB union
Care heroes deserve better pay after this wretched year
By Gary Smith - The Times
To mark the anniversary of the UK’s first lockdown, at noon and 8pm today the country will hold a minute’s silence to remember those who have lost their lives in the pandemic. These moments of reflection will be particularly heartfelt in our care homes and among social care workers.
As we emerge from the grip of winter and a severe second wave, it would be understandable if the tragedy of Covid-19 and care slipped off the public’s radar. That it should already be forgotten by some of our most prominent politicians is not. Social care was already in crisis before Covid-19 — a workforce of mainly low-paid women chronically undervalued and exploited for years, an inconvenient truth well understood in the Holyrood bubble which did little to tackle it.
That’s why we asked the first minister for a national social care plan before the first lockdown, pulling together the public and private sectors with responsibility for personal protective equipment, testing and the standardisation of pay and conditions of workers. Instead, our carers endured a year blighted by failure. Proper PPE guidance and provision, sick pay support funding, workplace testing and mental health support all had to be fought for while half of all first wave fatalities occurred in care home settings. Throughout, ministers were “clapping for our carers”.
That failure persists after a budget that cements most carers on the living wage of £9.50 an hour, the minimum a worker requires to meet the basics. Despite the Feeley review demonstrating the transformative impact a significant pay increase for social care workers could have on the sector and the wider economy, the Scottish government and the Greens showed their appreciation for our carers by giving them an increase of less than a tenner a week. As we’ve learnt this week, there is no guarantee that this paltry uplift will even make the April pay run.
It rounds off a wretched year for our social care workforce. A third of Scotland’s 9,800 Covid-related fatalities have occurred in residential care homes. At the heart of a crisis within a crisis these workers have shown courage and suffered tragedy, but they have been consistently failed by government. And as the country falls silent, you would forgive these frontline heroes for thinking: has it really all been worth it?
Gary Smith is Scotland secretary of the GMB union
