Unions demand action from Scottish Government over care worker pay row
However, unions want to see this increased to at least £15 an hour.
Ahead of FMQs, care workers protest pay outside Holyrood with union bosses calling for immediate intervention from the Scottish Government. It coincides with strikes by Enable Scotland workers in Glasgow and Edinburgh
Story for @heraldscotland soon pic.twitter.com/xCRrpEYPSK — Hannah Brown (@HannahMargBrown) June 12, 2025
It comes as today, protestors set off from Tron Kirk in Edinburgh and marched down High Street to Holyrood, rallying against what the union Unison have described as "years of broken promises and delays" by the Scottish government regarding reform and funding of social care.
The demonstration coincides with strikes by Enable Scotland workers in Glasgow and Edinburgh over their pay.
The action is part of the first national care strike in Scotland in over a decade, which has already seen walkouts in East Renfrewshire, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.
READ MORE:
Hundreds of care staff to go on strike over £38m SNP U-turn
Attending the protest, Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish Trade Union said: 'We are here today to support these enable workers who are unfortunately having to take strike action.
"They are not doing it lightly. They are striking for better pay and conditions for care workers and this is actually a dispute for the whole care sector.'
'Enable don't hold the answer to paying these workers more. This is an issue that the Scottish Government's going to have to intervene on. These workers deserve to be paid for the very skilled work that they do and we should be starting with a baseline of £15 an hour.
'We need Scottish Government intervention now to ensure that the care sector doesn't collapse.
'We need the government to intervene to give a starting rate of £15 an hour, to give us proper collective bargaining rights across this sector and to make sure workers and charities like Enable are properly paid for the very highly skilled work that they do.'
Ms Foyer also said she would like to know 'where the missing millions are' in terms of the Scottish Government's pledge to improve sick worker pay.
In May, trade union Unison told The Herald the decision to go on strike was in response to a U turn on a pledge of £38m of extra funding by ministers made in 2021 after it agreed to improve pay and conditions in the sector.
Unison Scotland's lead for social care Jennifer McCarey said: 'Care workers have had enough of delays and broken promises and feel they've no choice but to take their protest to the Scottish government.'
The union represents around 600 workers at Enable Scotland and has agreed 'life and limb' cover with the employer during the strike to protect those most at risk.
Enable Scotland employee Anna Baird said: 'If ministers value us as much as they say they do, then it's time they funded social care properly and paid us fairly.
'We love our jobs and don't want to be on strike. But we are some of the lowest-paid workers in the country and fed up of waiting."
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
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