Government ‘must honour wage pledge’
POORLY-PAID care workers have called on Welsh Government ministers to honour a commitment made in the run-up to May’s Senedd election that they would be paid the Foundation Living Wage.
Public services union Unison, to which many of the workers belong, says earnings in the care sector are scandalously low and leave the mainly female workforce struggling to survive.
Most care in Wales is provided by the private sector and charities and typically the minimum wage of £8.91 per hour is paid.
Welsh Labour’s manifesto commitment promised the Foundation Living Wage would be paid to all care workers. That stood at £9.50 per hour and has been increased this week to £9.90 per hour.
Unison says the higher rate of pay is urgently needed to address the thousands of vacancies in the sector.
It wants an immediate uplift in pay for care workers to the Foundation Living Wage and has called on the Welsh Government to produce a timetable for care workers to receive the same rates of pay as NHS colleagues.
A poll commissioned by Unison Cymru Wales in April this year found 90% of the public believe Wales’ care workforce should be paid £9.50 per hour or more.
Bridgend care worker Pat Jones said: “Promises are made by politicians seeking votes, but the people at the sharp end are still waiting. We’re still on very low wages and locked in a struggle to survive. “In the six months since the election, our debts have increased, bills have rocketed and corners are being cut from the family budget. That needn’t have happened if the Foundation Living Wage had been introduced as promised.
“We love the job we do, but the government must recognise it’s time to move on from having social care ‘on the cheap’. It must invest in us as workers and in care services. We need the Foundation Living Wage now.”
Mark Turner, Unison’s lead officer for social care, said: “Care workers provide a vital service and it’s a disgrace that the wages paid leave many in poverty.
“Many care workers rallied to Labour’s Foundation Living Wage commitment at the May election, but more than six months later they’ve seen no progress. This isn’t good enough and they’re fed up with waiting.”
The situation is complicated by the fact that the Welsh Government cannot force private sector employers to increase the wages of their care workers.
However, it’s hoped that leverage can be applied by placing obligations on employers through procurement contracts to ensure workers are paid the Foundation Living Wage.
Even so, it is understood that legal advice is not clear on whether this and other obligations can be placed on employers seeking to provide care services to the public sector in Wales.
The Scottish Government has pressed ahead with similar plans, despite no legal underpinning of the requirement, but there has never been a legal challenge.
Unison expects the Welsh Government to follow the proactive approach of Rhondda Cynon Taf council in increasing the money paid to contracted providers and saying there is an expectation that the Living Wage will be paid, without downgrading other terms and conditions.
The union’s view is that Wales needs a National Care Service, mainly publicly delivered, which would ensure pay, terms and conditions. It believes this would make care work much more attractive and resolve the staffing crisis.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are committed to creating a stronger, better paid workforce in social care. Delivering the real living wage for social care workers is a priority for this government. The Social Care Fair Work Forum – a partnership of trade unions including Unison, employers and government – has submitted advice to us about how this can be done.
“The Deputy Minister [Julie Morgan] is meeting them next week to discuss their advice and the way forward.”