Fairlands care givers down tools over pay
Staff distraught over delayed salaries as rent, daycare fees loom
More than 60 nursing staff at a senior citizens home in East London downed tools on Tuesday in protest that their employer had not paid them.
The aggrieved workers, speaking to the Dispatch at the gate of the Fairlands home in Cambridge, said they were meant to be paid on Tuesday.
However, they said they were forewarned on Thursday that salaries would only be paid in a week’s time, on March 4.
The workers on Tuesday abandoned their posts and duties, saying they would return to work once their salaries were paid.
Dressed in navy and white uniforms and union T-shirts, they sat on the lawn in front of the reception office.
It was not clear what contingency measures were in place for the home’s elderly and frail tenants.
The Dispatch called the Fairlands home on Tuesday.
A woman who answered the phone transferred the call to the office of a manager. However, the phone rang unanswered.
The Dispatch attempted to make contact again and was transferred to the same extension. Again there was no response. A worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she had a newborn baby in daycare and had fees to pay.
“Now I don’t have money to pay and that means I have to stay home and look after my baby until I get paid. I haven’t paid my rent, which was due today [Tuesday]. I don’t know what I will tell my landlord,” she said.
The woman said there had been issues relating to bonuses and payment for extra shifts in the past.
“We are not coping and we are angry. How else are we going to work without our pay? How will we get to work and take care of the clients?”
Another employee said: “I have a family of three and it’s month end. How am I supposed to pay for our rent and buy food at home?”
“If they are failing to run this place, they must give it to someone else, even social development, who can, and who will care not only about the clients but us as well.”
Another said: “Since December we’ve had to fight for our salaries. We are not supposed to be fighting but we are being taken for granted.
“Every time our payday approaches we are told stories, yet they expect excellent work from us.
“We work well to ensure the clients are well taken care of. We are overworked here even. We are working for our families.”
The workers claimed that the management told them they would be given letters explaining their salary situation.
“How is that going to help us? We will still be left to pay arrears. All we need is our money, which we worked hard for.”