Sign up to Ethical Care and give home carers a living wage not poverty pay

#uLGC14 Renfrewshire’s Brenda Aitchison brought a Scottish dimension to the Ethical Care debate as conference backed a wide ranging strategy to keep up the pressure to improve the working conditions of our members in the care sector and the quality of care to our most vulnerable citizens.

Brenda told delegates that Renfrewshire was the first Scottish Branch to sign up to UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter, after home care members in home care met the Labour leader of their council and gave him a “no holds barred” account of the invaluable work they do.

“As a result, a full commitment to training and the living wage was inserted into the contract process,” said Brenda

Some of the private firms refused to sign up unless the council paid the differential between their rate of pay and the living wage. “These forms no longer have a contract with the council,” she said.

Brenda called for UNISON to keep up the pressure to make sure that our members have a “living wage, not poverty pay.”

She ended with the words of Maya Angelou. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people never forget how you made them feel.

“Our members in home care make people feel better cared for, loved and cherished in their own homes. We should value them by pushing for councils to adopt the Ethical Care Charter.!