Forbes Comments On Pay Shows Scottish Government No Longer Clapping For Carers Says GMB

8th March 2021

Responding to the Finance Secretary's comments to the Finance and Constitution Committee meeting this morning (Monday 8 March) on social care pay, Rhea Wolfson of the GMB Scotland Women’s Campaign Unit said:

"On International Women’s Day Kate Forbes has cut a budget deal with the Greens that sells short tens of thousands of women across the social care sector - and what’s worse is the Finance Secretary used our NHS nurses as a reason for not delivering a £15 an hour minimum.

“The fight for a £15 social care minimum hasn’t been “plucked out of a hat". What our members are asking politicians to do is support the objective of bringing social care pay into line with the average hourly rate of pay, to help tackle the recruitment crisis in care and to ensure a chronically exploited workforce are properly valued for the work they do.

“The Scottish Government claimed it wanted to put social care on an equal footing with the NHS and the Feeley Review has shown that a significant investment in social care and its workers could have a transformative effect on our economy and society.

“After the tragic events of the last year, a golden opportunity was there to do the right thing by our care workers but instead the Finance Secretary has chosen to pit key worker against key worker to keep one group mired in low-pay.

“It’s clear the Scottish Government is no longer clapping for our carers.”