Unison confirmed strike action will begin to roll out

Care workers employed by Enable Scotland will walk out in a dispute over pay, Unison has confirmed. 

The strike will roll out across five days in different regions of the country, beginning in East Renfrewshire on Thursday, 29 May, and continuing in Aberdeenshire, Moray, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow over subsequent days.

The action will culminate in a march and rally at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Thursday, 12 June.

The walkout is the first national care strike in Scotland for more than a decade. It comes after years of broken promises and delays by the Scottish government to reform and fund social care properly, says Unison.

The union says care staff have been left with no option after being consistently let down by ministers.

Unison Scotland regional organiser Jennifer McCarey said: “The last thing care workers want to do is strike. It's been a very difficult decision for them.

"But promises of pay increases made by government ministers have been broken and Enable workers' pay has worsened.

“The care sector is in crisis and the responsibility for that lies squarely with the Scottish government.

"Until care staff are valued properly and paid fairly, the sector will never have the workforce it needs.”

Unison member and personal assistant with Enable Scotland for eight years, Anna Baird, added: “I love my job and the people I support, that’s why this decision was so hard. But we’re at breaking point.

“We’ve been made promises for years, but nothing changes. Our pay doesn’t reflect the responsibility we carry and many of us are struggling to make ends meet. We’re just asking to be valued for the vital work we do.”

An Enable spokesperson told TFN: “Enable is disappointed by the decision to strike, but we are working positively with Unison on our shared principle of minimising the adverse impact of this action on the people we support.

"Significantly enhanced pay beyond the real living wage is entirely dependent on external funding. Enable has worked with Unison to advance Fair Work across the social care sector for a number of years, and 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.”