The game changer

UNISON’s campaign for a national care service was a key part of the union’s campaigning in the run-up to the general election earlier this year. A Labour government is now in power for the first time since 2010, but the campaign continues – and a crucial part of this is the drive to secure a fair pay agreement in adult social care.

The need for action

After 14 years of Tory rule, the social care system is close to breaking point. The toxic combination of years of chronic underfunding and a dysfunctional, under-regulated market system means that thousands of elderly and disabled people are unable to get the level of care they need, while money continues to bleed out of the system to profit-driven care providers.

Low pay is endemic in the sector, with nearly half of all adult social care workers in England paid less than the real living wage.

On top of this, too many homecare workers are not paid for their travel time between appointments, too many residential staff do not receive sufficient pay for doing ‘sleep-in’ shifts at their place of work, and the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how many care workers are not even able to access proper sick pay.

Insecure employment is another problem, with around a quarter of the total workforce on zero-hours contracts, including around half of the homecare workforce. Many care workers suffer from insufficient access to training, and a lack of career structure means that progression opportunities remain elusive for much of the workforce.

All in all, it is little surprise that so many care workers vote with their feet and leave their jobs for better-paid, less strenuous work elsewhere. The vacancy rate in social care remains one of the highest in any sector of the economy, with more than 130,000 roles currently unfilled in England.

Start with the workforce

Given the extent of these problems, there is widespread consensus across the sector that meaningful reform of social care must begin with addressing the workforce crisis – and this is where the fair pay agreement (FPA) comes in.

The FPA would be a collective employment agreement across the adult social care sector in England. It would set fair pay, terms and conditions for all social care staff, along with training standards. Its contents would be negotiated between government, unions and employers. There would be a period of consultation on how the FPA would work.

Similar initiatives have been trialled in other countries, but essentially the intention is to make social care a more secure and attractive sector to work in – as a way of addressing workforce shortages and thereby boosting the continuity of care available to service users. The FPA would be a legally enforceable commitment that providers would have to abide by in order to deliver care services.

We know that large numbers of UNISON members find working in social care hugely rewarding but are frustrated that they are unable to make a decent living from doing so. A successful FPA could be the route to many more care workers seeing a future in the sector, somewhere they can afford to continue working and where there are genuine career prospects.

Employment rights bill

The FPA featured in Labour’s New Deal for Working People, as part of its plans to boost collective bargaining. The document outlines the party’s plans to establish the first FPA in social care, with the potential to roll out the model to other sectors after a review.

The FPA was included in Labour’s election manifesto and in the new administration’s plans for government, as outlined in the King’s Speech in July. It will form part of Labour’s wide-ranging employment rights bill (ERB), which is described as the “biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation” and is designed to give effect to much of the New Deal.

The bill will include significant changes, such as banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, ending the use of “fire and rehire”, making flexible working the default from day-one for all workers, establishing a single body to ensure the enforcement of workplace rights, and reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

In addition, there are commitments to ensure that workers are able to access trade unions in their workplaces, and to do away with Tory anti-union legislation, such as the use of minimum service levels.

The campaign continues

The FPA would apply to England, but its successful implementation could bring benefits for care workers across the UK, so the union will be looking to build on and complement work that has already been undertaken by UNISON Scotland and UNISON Cymru/Wales with their respective devolved administrations.

UNISON has been clear from the start that producing fair pay and conditions for care workers is an essential first step on the longer road to developing a national care service, which Labour also committed to in its manifesto.

But the union is not resting on its laurels. UNISON motions to both TUC Congress and Labour Party Conference in September focused on the importance of delivering the FPA.

The UNISON stand at both events was also proudly emblazoned with the colours of the union’s Let’s Make Care Work campaign.

And it was UNISON that posed the first question from the floor to Keir Starmer after his speech to the TUC, focusing on the need for Labour to reassert its commitment to the FPA.

The prime minister’s response made clear that establishing a national care service is “one of the absolute objectives” of his government and that this starts with the FPA, the “foundation stone” of that service.

Alongside these big picture commitments, the union is continuing to raise the issue with ministers and officials at every opportunity.

The FPA can be a game-changer for care workers and for the care sector as a whole – it has the potential to make social care a thriving part of the economy. UNISON will continue to demand nothing less for our members and those that they care for.

Learn more about Let’s Make Care Work and the national care service

Legal briefing: Employment law – improving life for workers