Ayrshire care workers set to protest
Care workers at Enable Scotland have taken strike action in Kilmarnock tomorrow in a continuing dispute over pay, says trade union Unison.
It is part of a coordinated wave of walkouts rolling out over five days across Scotland, targeting different regions.
The industrial action began last week in East Renfrewshire and continued earlier this week in Aberdeenshire, with further strikes scheduled for Lanarkshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow over the coming days.
It is the first nationwide strike in Scotland's care sector in more than a decade, following what the union has called years of broken promises by the Scottish government to properly reform and fund social care.
The series of strike days will culminate in a march and rally at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh next Thursday (12 June).
Unison Scotland regional organiser Jennifer McCarey said: “This isn’t a decision any care worker takes lightly. But they’ve been pushed to the edge by years of empty commitments and inadequate pay. Care workers in Kilmarnock and across Scotland are standing up for themselves and everyone who needs their support. The Scottish government must listen and deliver if social care is to have a future.
Enable worker Mhairi-Ann Agnew said: “We do this job because we care and we know how much people rely on us. But staff also need to be able to pay their bills. None of us ever imagined we’d be on strike, but we’ve waited for things to improve for far too long and nothing has changed.
"This is about respect. We deserve fair pay for the essential work we do every day.”
An Enable spokesperson said: “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.”
