Far-right will exploit pay gap in care to fuel division, First Minister warned
John Swinney has been urged to introduce an emergency pay award
A pay gap between foreign care workers and Scottish colleagues will be exploited by the hard right to fuel division, the First Minister has been warned.
GMB Scotland wrote to John Swinney expressing concerns that higher minimum salaries for overseas workers in social care will be weaponised by far-right parties demanding tougher curbs on immigration.
It follows UK-wide changes from the UK Government that mean social care workers recruited from abroad or applying to extend an existing visa must earn at least £12.82 an hour. The minimum social wage for British workers £12.60, around £500 a year less.
Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, is now calling for an emergency pay award to lift the minimum wage for all social care workers across the sector.
She said: “It is beyond argument that every care worker in Scotland should be paid more but the imposition of a two tier system makes a bad situation far worse.
“It is unfair, untenable and, if allowed to continue, corrosive in a sector that is already buckling.
“There is a clear risk of it being exploited to stoke division and inflame tensions by those with ill-intent towards immigrants.”
Crisis ‘driven by low pay and poor conditions’
Ms Gilmour said a recruitment and retention crisis across social care has been driven by low pay and poor conditions and Scotland needs workers from overseas to bolster crucial services.
However, she added: “The visa system must no longer be a tool for unscrupulous private care providers to exploit workers from overseas.
“That will demand a far greater recognition and fairer reward for all care staff wherever they come from.
“We need and welcome overseas care workers to Scotland but they should not be used to underpin disgracefully low pay and poor conditions in social care.
“All care staff, wherever they are from, are essential workers, among the most essential we have, and that must be reflected in improved pay, terms and conditions across the sector.”
Workers ‘deserve more than warm words’
GMB Scotland claim there has been a broken promises to social care workers, including the stalled progress towards a £15 an hour minimum wage, the abandoned plans for a National Care Service and the pledge of £36 million to fund a national sick pay scheme that was never delivered.
She added: “Those workers deserve far more than warm words. They need support.
“Ministers claiming to understand the problems mean nothing if they cannot or will not deliver solutions.
“Addressing the crisis in our social care sector will be a long journey but one that starts with small, achievable steps.
“The first is to close this pay gap, the second is to introduce sectoral bargaining, and the third is to deliver fairer pay and better conditions.”
GMB Scotland has now urged ministers to convene an emergency summit attended by unions and care providers with an immediate and clear commitment to increase the minimum wage to £12.82 an hour backdated to April 9 when the new visa rules came into force.
Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “Immigration restrictions, such as the UK Government’s decision to stop care workers from bringing dependents to the UK, has already had a negative impact on the social care sector. It’s very concerning that the number of health and care worker visa applications has fallen since these restrictions were introduced. It is also disappointing that the UK Government did not notify us, in advance, of the immigration rule changes.
“We have invested £125 million this financial year to enable adult social care workers to be paid at least the Real Living Wage rate and we are committed to establishing voluntary sectoral bargaining arrangements for the adult social care sector in Scotland.”
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