Care workers have issued a public complaint to ministers that they are still waiting for the introduction of the Foundation Living Wage, promised by Welsh Labour at May’s Senedd elections, 193 days ago.
Public services union, UNISON, says earnings in the care sector are scandalously low and leave the mainly female care 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 for the Senedd elections promised the Foundation Living Wage would be paid to all care workers. That stood at £9.50 per hour and has been uprated this week to £9.90 per hour.
The trade union 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 for 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 per cent of the public believe Wales’ care workforce should be paid at least £9.50 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 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 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 lead officer for social care said,
“Care workers provide a vital service and it’s a disgrace the wages paid leave many in poverty.
“Many care workers rallied to Labour’s Foundation Living Wage commitment at the May elections, but more than six months later they’ve seen no progress. This isn’t good enough and they’re fed up with waiting.
“Welsh government could now transform the lives of thousands of mostly female care workers and their families by making sure all are paid the Foundation Living Wage as a minimum.
“Boosting pay would help tackle the recruitment crisis in care. In turn, that would alleviate pressures on the over-stretched NHS by ensuring vulnerable people who don’t need emergency care are kept out of hospital.”
Notes for editors
- UNISON Cymru Wales commissioned opinion polling from Savanta ComRes. Savanta ComRes interviewed 1,021 Welsh adults aged 16+ online from 1 to 7 April 2021. Data were weighted to be representative of Welsh adults by age, gender, region and SEG.
Q. Which of the following sentences best describes your thoughts on pay for care workers in Wales? The real living wage is £9.50/hour.
| SUM: All at least or more | 90% |
| All should be paid more than the real living wage | 37% |
| All should be paid at least the real living wage | 53% |
| Some can be paid less than the real living wage | 4% |
| All should be paid less than the real living wage | 1% |
| Don’t know | 5% |
Base: All respondents (n=1,021)
Contact
Alastair Gittins, UNISON press officer on 07816 53 83 97
