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Care workers and the new wave of workplace organising [1]
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Date: 2023-07
Indeed, for many, things have got worse with the cost-of-living crisis – even as private care providers rake in huge profits. “I am stressed,” is how one home care worker in northern England put it to us during our work as organisers and researchers. “I pay for fuel for about £250 per month. My boss doesn’t pay me mileage. Sometimes I work less hours and at times I don’t get shifts. Although the government lifted restrictions on taking up a second job, my rota doesn’t allow me time.”
Despite growing demand for care, the government has done little to improve conditions. There are 1.6m adult social care workers in Britain, more than there are workers in the NHS, so collectively these workers could have a powerful voice. Across developed countries, care jobs now employ around a quarter of the total workforce. But like in many other parts of the economy, union membership is low.
There are many challenges facing unorganised workers, meaning turning that potential into reality faces a number of important hurdles. First, workplaces without unions are often keen to keep them that way. This means that new organising starts in a hostile environment.
Without existing unions, workers are much more at risk from retaliation by employers. While there are employment law protections, these require that workers are both aware of their rights and able to enforce them. In many forms of work, dismissals can be hard to fight – particularly in the first two years of employment. The Employment Tribunal system is not fit for purpose, never mind the UK’s labour market enforcement bodies.
Second, the reality of organising from scratch is much more challenging. Throughout the cost-of-living crisis, we’ve both spent lots of time talking to workers who want to start organising – either in the general members branch of the IWGB (Independent Workers of Great Britain) union, or with Organise Now!, a new peer-to-peer network that supports people getting organised at work by introducing them to coaches from across the trade union movement.
A common theme from workers is that they do not know where to start, let alone what a path to winning something at work would look like. Yet workers continue to try to take those first steps. For example, migrant care workers have been forming new networks, supported by Organise Now! They have been putting on organising and “know your rights” training sessions, as well as hosting socials for workers to meet and share experiences.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/care-crisis-workers-organising-labour-strikes-cost-of-living/
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