By Ian Bunting
Copyright dailyrecord
Care workers employed by Enable Scotland held a day of strike action in Airdrie today, September 9, as part of an ongoing pay dispute. The staff will be on strike today and on Thursday, September 11, and held a rally at Airdrie town hall before marching to the town’s MSP Neil Gray’s office today. Employees handed over symbolic ‘invoices’ to Mr Gray’s office calling for payment of their outstanding earnings. Union UNISON estimates care workers have been underpaid by £5500 since April 2022 because of “the Scottish Government’s broken promise to match carers’ pay with NHS rates.”. The Scottish Government sets the hourly pay rates for care workers across the country and can resolve this dispute and lift thousands of care workers out of poverty, says the union. Previous strikes took place in May and June, with care staff across Scotland walking out for the first time in 10 years. UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “These care workers have been underpaid for far too long. “Going on strike is the last thing they want to do, but they’ve been left with no other option. “They deliver vital care to some of the most vulnerable people in the country, yet their wages simply aren’t enough to live on. “The Scottish Government must do the right thing by better funding social care and showing workers that they value them by paying them fair, decent wages.” UNISON Scotland regional organiser Jennifer McCarey added: “No care worker takes the decision to strike lightly. But after years of broken promises, low pay and with a sector in crisis, they’ve had enough. “Staff are taking a stand not just for themselves but for the people they care for every day. “Only substantial improvement to the hourly rate for care workers in Scotland will save the sector from disaster. “The Scottish Government must invest in social care and deliver fair pay to the workers who provide these essential services.” The Scottish Government’s social care minister, Tom Arthur, said: ““We value the vital role social care workers play in delivering high-quality care. “Whilst pay negotiations are a matter for trade unions and employers, I urge both parties to continue to work together to reach an agreement which is fair for the workforce and affordable for Enable. “Our 2025-26 Scottish Budget provides an additional £125 million to enable adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services, to be paid at least the Real Living Wage of £12.60 an hour. “This takes our total investment in improving social care pay to £950 million. “We are committed to further improving support for the social care workforce and the introduction of sectoral bargaining for the commissioned adult social care sector is progressing well. Once in place this will help see improvements in pay, and terms and conditions.” An Enable spokesperson said additional pay beyond the real living wage would be dependent on external funding. They added: “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.” *Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .
