Industrial action looms in frontline care as GMB Scotland ballots members
by Bill Heaney
Home care workers in West Dunbartonshire will vote on strikes after managers refused to pause a controversial restructuring.
GMB Scotland has launched a ballot on industrial action after the Health and Social Care Partnership [HSCP] rejected calls to halt the rollout of new rotas branded as unworkable by staff.
The decision to press ahead came after a series of meetings when, after a long campaign by workers affected, the government promised to look at easing the impact of the changes.
AnnMarie Carrigan, GMB organiser, said managers have been given every opportunity to end a dispute that now threatens to disrupt the lifeline care provided to some of the most vulnerable residents in West Dunbartonshire.
She said: “Home care is built on the shoulders of our members. Their skills and commitment should demand only respect, but instead have been thrown in their face.
“They have been led up the garden path by executives who clearly had no intention of easing the damage being inflicted by changes that have caused so much misery and damage.
“Managers will talk all day but do absolutely nothing to ease the disruption, uncertainty and pain inflicted by these changes and cannot be surprised that our members have said enough.”
The GMB union, representing home care staff, has campaigned for months on behalf of care workers adversely affected by the new shift patterns.
It said a redesign of the service intended to improve care has sabotaged standards, impacted on workers’ jobs and family life, and caused stress and uncertainty for those they care for.
GMB Scotland opened a two-week consultative ballot on industrial action on Tuesday, ending on 1 July. If workers support industrial action, up to and including strikes, a formal ballot will be held.
If staff support action, a formal vote will be held before industrial action, up to and including strikes, takes place.
A poll of workers previously revealed nearly nine out of ten (85 per cent) say their mental health has suffered because of the anxiety and stress caused by new working patterns, while 72 per cent said the changes have cost them money because they have been forced to reduce their hours.
Eight out of ten (80%) believe the redesign has impacted their lives away from work while 58 per cent believe the changes have damaged their pensions and sabotaged retirement plans.
But one carer surveyed by GMB said she has already been forced to reduce her hours, while many other colleagues are finding new shift patterns and additional responsibilities too much.
She said: “I loved my job and the people I visited, but I just couldn’t cope with the new demands. I ended up in tears every night and just couldn’t keep doing it. It was too much.
“Everybody I know in the service is either dropping their hours or thinking about it. It is so unnecessary and unfair.”
Some families dread the prospect of a strike by the home carers, given that some of the elderly and infirm people they look after, administering medication and bathing and showering others, plus a “tuck-in” service.
They fear that a large percentage – if not all the patients being cared for at home – will have to return to hospitals or care homes to be looked after.
He said: “A crisis is looming. The hospitals are full, and because beds are not available, there are lengthy waiting lists, which have been highlighted daily by MSPs and others who have stated clearly that the patients in care could end up being treated in hospital corridors.
“This is a huge worry for all concerned, especially the patients and their families.”