Essential care workers in Plymouth Council’s Independence @ Home department have begun strike action due to a dispute over pay and management practices.
The workers provide support and care for vulnerable adults, with mental health issues, substance addictions and terminal illnesses, at all times of day and night.
Nearly 50 of them will take part in strike action from Monday 25 November to Sunday 1 December, as well as further planned action from Monday 23 December to Sunday 29 December. They will hold a picket line at the council offices, as well as a demonstration outside the Council House that coincided with a council meeting yesterday.
The workers have undertaken industrial action claiming that management within the department monitor and record the down time between their home visits, which they argue is working time. Furthermore, appointments can be either cancelled at short notice or non-existent at certain points in the day, resulting in them waiting to be allocated work.
Additionally, the carers claim that they are forced to work this time again, often on a designated day off, but are not paid for it. They argue that this system does not exist anywhere else in the council for other members of staff.
Unite, which represents the workers, believes they are due financial compensation for this, estimating the total to be around £250,000.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “This is an outrageous way to treat vital staff who do some of the most essential yet difficult work imaginable, caring for the most vulnerable in our society. Our members will no longer accept such practices and have the full backing of Unite as they take to the picket line.”
Unite regional officer Joseph Murphy said: “The actions of Plymouth Council over the last six months have been extremely disappointing, and the failure to properly engage with Unite and make any offer to settle this dispute is a deliberate decision that has caused a great deal of distress to the membership.”
The Independence @ Home department was contacted for comment prior to publication.
