Hundreds of care staff to go on strike over £38m SNP U-turn
Trade union Unison said 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.
Wendy Hudson, Unison social care organiser, told The Herald: 'Social care workers have suffered a catalogue of broken promises by the Scottish Government. Since the pandemic their pay has got worse, and the service is in crisis.
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"The £38m pledged by the Scottish Government four years ago should have gone into care workers pay packets - to improve their pay, sick pay and maternity leave. Instead this money has been taken back."
She warned that workers for other care providers would also go on strike unless the Scottish Government acted.
"Enable is one of the better employers. Thousands of care workers across Scotland only get paid the Scottish Living Wage and basic statutory sick pay," she said.
The workers who will go on strike are members of the trade union Unison (Image: Jamie Simpson) "Care workers in Scotland have run out of patience. This strike at Enable is the first for many years and others will follow unless the Scottish Government fund the sector properly.'
A briefing document by Unison passed to The Herald said that a freedom of information request by the union in October 2023 found that funds allocated to "Fair Work in Social Care" to improve terms and conditions for staff had been moved to another part of the budget.
"Approximately £38m originally assigned to Fair Work in 2022/23 is re-prioritised accordingly within the health and social care portfolio - which had been allocated to change conditions of employment such as maternity, paternity and sick pay," it said.
Responding to Unison's freedom of information request at the time the Scottish Government confirmed the £38m promised in 2021 had been moved elsewhere to the health and social care budget "as changing conditions of employment" was a matter which came under the UK Government's control.
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"Work through the Fair Work in Social Care Group in 2021 developed a minimum terms and conditions framework for the Adult Social Care commissioned services workforce reflecting Fair Work principles. This work is being taken forward in collaboration with key stakeholders on a phased approach," it said.
"The initial phase of exploratory work identified a question of legislative competence around delivery, specifically as employment law, including changing conditions of employment (such as maternity/paternity leave and sick pay), is reserved to the UK Government.
"Working through these issues has taken longer than originally anticipated, as alternate routes of delivery that are within the devolved powers of Scottish Ministers needed to be explored.
"One possible contractual route for implementation has been identified and work continues with this. This has meant that implementation of the first of the recommendations is likely to begin in the 2023-24 financial year, with £38 million originally assigned to this in 2022-23 re prioritised accordingly within the Health and Social Care Portfolio."
Anna Baird, a Unison member and a personal assistant with Enable Scotland for eight years, said: "I love my job and the people I support, that's why this decision was so hard. But we're at breaking point. We've been made promises for years, but nothing changes.
"Our pay doesn't reflect the responsibility we carry and many of us are struggling to make ends meet. We're just asking to be valued for the vital work we do."
Unison Scotland regional organiser Jennifer McCarey said "not a single promise" had been kept by ministers and that care workers pay pay was now worse.
In April this year, social care worker pay was increased to £12.60 in line with the Scottish Living Wage.
Unison has listed the dates of the strikes as follows:
May 29 – East Renfrewshire; June 3 Aberdeenshire and Moray; June 6 Ayrshire; June 10 North Lanarkshire/Central services staff; and June 12 Edinburgh and Glasgow. The strikes will conclude with a march and rally at the Scottish Parliament on 12 June.
To protect those most at risk, Unison has agreed "life and limb" cover with the employer for during the strike.
Minister for Social Care Maree Todd said: 'We are committed to delivering fair work and improving the experience of workers in the social care sector.
'Clearly funding is a challenge in the current financial climate and the UK Government's recent decisions to hit the sector with a double whammy of increases in employer National Insurance Contribution payments, coupled with plans to end international recruitment will be devastating for the care sector.
"That is why the Scottish Government has called on the UK Government to reverse this proposal.
"The Scottish Government has committed to enabling the payment of the Real Living Wage to all workers delivering commissioned services since 2016.
"This means Scottish care workers are amongst the best paid in the UK. For the 2025-26 financial year, we will be investing an additional £125 million to support pay, taking the estimated total investment in this policy to £950 million.
'Improving wider terms and conditions for the social care workforce remains a priority, and we are continuing to work with providers and trade unions to make progress on the issues identified through our Fair Work in Social Care Group. While this will be dependent on resolving budget pressures, progress on Sectoral Bargaining and our ongoing engagement with the UK Government on the Employment Rights Bill will also help drive improvements in pay, terms and conditions.'
An Enable spokeswoman said: 'Enable is disappointed by the decision to strike, but we are working positively with Unison on our shared principle of minimising the adverse impact of this action on the people we support.
"Significantly enhanced pay beyond the real living wage is entirely dependent on external funding.
"Enable has worked with Unison to advance Fair Work across the social care sector for a number of years, and we would welcome a national pay settlement for the charity sector social care workforce which is on a par with pay deals for care workers in the public sector.'
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