- Conference
- Date
- June 16, 2017
- Decision
Working conditions in any sector in the UK, with widespread abuse of zero-hour contracts, breaches of minimum wage legislation, and non-payment of the time spent travelling between domiciliary care visits.
Conference recognises the work done by UNISON at all levels to highlight these issues and develop strategies to address them. Conference applauds the work of branches, regions, and our national local government, legal and press teams in experimenting with different organising models, and putting pressure on councils and providers to adopt UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter. But given our low membership density in this sector, the significant barriers to unionisation and the scale of the exploitation, conference believes we must find ways to extend and consolidate this work.
Conference notes that the care sector sustains itself on the goodwill of a workforce that is composed overwhelmingly of women, and disproportionately of Black women. Conference notes that the BBC has reported several instances of Black women care workers in Haringey branch being paid an hourly rate of £3.27. Conference stands in solidarity with this workforce and denounces our current government and the employers concerned for their callous and outrageous disregard.
Conference recognises that the vulnerability of a workforce overwhelmingly employed on zero-hour contracts demands a nuanced and multifaceted organising approach. Conference believes that we must develop unified and complementary industrial, political and legal strategies if we are to decisively challenge the balance of power in the care sector.
Conference appreciates that in a time of public sector cuts, homecare is one of the few sectors in which the workforce has grown due to demographic change and the UK’s ageing population. We recognise that the issues faced by care workers will not go away until we extend nationally our efforts to organise, unify and build power within the workforce.
Conference reaffirms its belief that homecare is best provided by public bodies, where it is subject to proper democratic oversight and accountability. However Conference recognises that the sector is currently dominated by private commissioning models, and therefore that we must challenge problems within these commissioning models at the same time as we challenge outsourcing itself.
Conference instructs the National Executive Council to conduct a comprehensive review of the campaigns and projects UNISON is currently engaged in within the homecare sector. This review is to involve consultation with branches, regions and the national office to share experience and develop best practice for extending our organising efforts in this area, including ways to complement industrial organisation with political and legal approaches.
Conference instructs the National Executive Council to review its organising strategy for the homecare sector and to explore how this may be better resourced.
Conference reaffirms its commitment to the Ethical Care Charter, and instructs the National Executive Council to review the materials available to branches and regions on its implementation. This review will compare its adoption in different local authorities with a view to drawing up a model implementation plan to be made available to branches and regions for negotiations.
Conference instructs the National Executive Council to provide up-to-date bargaining guidance to branches on outsourcing and commissioning models in social care, including help with identifying potential issues and legal claims.
Conference instructs the National Executive Council to consult with regions, branches and self organised groups in a review of subscription banding arrangements for low-paid members on zero-hour contracts, where low and unpredictable incomes can put workers off joining UNISON, and if appropriate to bring forward rule change proposals to National Delegate Conference 2018.
Conference calls upon branches to use their initiative in organising care workers in their areas. Conference recognises that some branches do not have the capacity currently to deal with additional private sector casework, and therefore instructs the National Executive Council to provide branches with up-to-date guidance on options to resource such projects.
Conference calls upon the Labour Link Committee to put pressure on the Labour Party to adopt UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter as national policy, and to introduce it in general and local elections.
Haringey UNISON Local Government (M)
NEC POLICY: SUPPORT AND AMEND
4.1
Insert a new paragraph after sixth paragraph (currently ending ‘. . . as we challenge outsourcing itself’):
“Conference recognises that the current privatised model of social care has undermined care standards for those reliant on it as well as undermining pay and conditions for the sector’s workforce. Conference therefore calls on the National Executive Council both to highlight the abject failure of privatisation, and put the case for the universal provision of social care on the basis of need, not profit, by a democratically accountable public sector in future campaigns.”
Camden UNISON
NEC POLICY: SUPPORT
4.2
In eleventh paragraph delete all text after: “Conference instructs the National Executive Council to” and replace with:
“undertake a wide ranging review of how UNISON can most effectively organise amongst homecare workers in consultation with branches regions and service groups based on best practice and having regard to the challenges posed by lack of resources and fragmentation including consideration of subscription banding.”
National Executive Council