Dear Member
Hello again! We hope you’re all keeping well and your week is going ok so far. For many of you it will be a short week with the prospect of a well-deserved, long weekend just a day away. We know that for many others this will not be the case and many of our members who work in the care sector in particular will carry on working throughout the Easter break. We thank you, as ever for your commitment to our community and hope that you get the chance for a well deserved break very soon.
Our Care Workers Deserve Better Pay and Full Sick Pay!
Care Workers are providing a vital, front line service often at considerable risk to themselves. Their pay is low and their sick pay basic. We consider this to be unacceptable. We are therefore calling for all Care Workers in Wirral to receive at least the Real Living Wage of £9.30 an hour and a proper sick pay package. We believe the Council who are ultimately responsible for the provision of many care services in Wirral should ensure that our care workers are treated with respect and paid a proper wage.
We are aware that the situation our care workers are facing is becoming increasingly difficult. When our members are sick or symptomatic the only option for them if they go off work, in the vast majority of cases, is SSP. This places them in an unenviable financial situation. Workers who are already on low pay are faced with financial hardship for “doing the right thing”. For care workers who are in the vulnerable or extremely vulnerable category or who live with someone who is, if they follow government advice and remain at home, in many cases they face the prospect of not even receiving SSP. Thus being given the choice of financial hardship, often as stark as whether they will be able to feed their families or put themselves and their families at heightened risk of catching the virus. We do not want a situation where the risk to our members or the vulnerable people they support is heightened unnecessarily.
Even when our members remain in work, for many of them they are paid basic minimum wage or barely above. This is a wage that is hard to defend at the best of times but in the face of the current pandemic is unjustifiable when they are on the front line of the battle against this deadly virus. They are faced with the choice of staying in a high risk, low paid job or seeking work perhaps in supermarkets where the pay is higher and the risk is lower.
We believe the Council has a duty to address this situation in the interest of care workers and in the interests of vulnerable people across Wirral.
Can you help the campaign?
We really appreciate the feedback that our care worker members have provided to us over the last few days. We have been in touch with some of the local elected representatives raising our concerns. If you are concerned about your levels of pay, sick pay, or problems with PPE during this current crisis, we encourage you to contact your local Councillors to raise your concerns, copying us in if you wish. This will undoubtably help our campaign to improve your pay and conditions. Councillor contact details can be found at http://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/mgFindMember.aspx However we still want you to contact us with any problems you are facing in the workplace and we will of course support you, equally your general feedback is welcome as ever.
Additional Funding from Government
Members may recall that on 19 March the Government announced a package of £1.6 billion additional funding for Local Authorities and £1.3 billion for the NHS. We are now aware that as a result of this Wirral has received additional funding amounting to almost £12 million (£11,861,798 to be exact!) This money is to help deal with the pressures on services caused by Coronavirus, this is expected to include increasing support to the adult social care workforce and for services helping the most vulnerable in our community. We welcome this money, although as the crisis goes on more may be needed and we will be asking questions of the Council to ensure that this additional funding is used effectively and in an open and transparent manner.
Council Updates:
Leisure and Parks
We have confirmed again today that the leisure and parks services will only be undertaking essential maintenance and health and safety tasks. We welcome this commitment which will reduce the necessity for staff to come into work and engage in none essential tasks, in line with government guidance on social distancing. Of course, many of our members (who are unable to work from home) may wish to use this time to volunteer with food deliveries, welfare calls etc and if our members are in a position to do so we would encourage this. Please do contact us if you are asked to go to the work place to complete any tasks that you are concerned might be none essential.
Equipment for home working
Since the middle of March when much of the Council workforce began working from home, we have been asking what measures will be put in place to ensure that members can safely and comfortably work from home. Namely how monitors, keyboards, chairs etc can be obtained for use in the home where they are needed. Having raised this again with the Council we understand that plans have been drawn up and are being checked by health and safety. We are hopeful that once these plans are finalised it will be possible for members to access equipment by the end of next week or at the very least have a clear idea of when they will be able to access their equipment.
Wirral Met College
As our members at the college will be aware, the various sites are currently closed, although online support for students is still happening where this is possible. Whilst funding streams from the public sector have been maintained the college has lost income from the private sector. Therefore the college has decided to utilise the Government’s furlough scheme. What this means in practice is that for staff who cannot work from home the college will be able to claim 80% of their wages form the Government. Unison has agreed with the college that the employer will ensure that staff who are on furlough will receive their full wage. If staff are in the pension scheme, pensions contributions will continue to be paid in the normal way. The college is writing to the effected individuals. If you have any questions about the scheme, please contact your assistant principle or director. However, if your questions are not answered, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Wirral Evolutions
Wirral Evolutions and the service they offer has changed with this crisis. Currently one centre is open and we understand that people are being supported in accordance with social distancing guidance. Additionally, further equipment has been acquired to enable staff to do telephone outreach work from home. We recognise the importance of any care workers providing direct care, having appropriate PPE. Wirral evolutions have assured us that staff will not be requested to work without this in place. If our members have any concerns or issues they should raise them with the service initially and if they cannot be resolved, please do contact us for advice.
Thanks for taking the time to read this update; we hope you’re finding them useful and informative. Your comments and queries are of course welcome and our contact details are below.
We want to reach as many of our members as possible through these emails so if you know of any members that aren’t receiving them, please tell them to get in touch so we can add them to our mailing list. We’re also on Facebook- search for ‘Wirral Unison’ and ‘like’ our page to see further updates.
If you are reading this because it has been shared with you and you’re not a member, here’s the link to join up! Join UNISON today Click here
We’ll be back in touch tomorrow.
In solidarity!
Lois and Dave
Dave: davidnjones@wirral.gov.uk 07880199539
Lois: loisfounds1@wirral.gov.uk 07384512521
Published on: April 9, 2020