Natalie Grayson, National Care Organiser at GMB Union, discusses the exploitation of undervalued migrant care workers and the vital role of trade unions in advocating for their rights.
Care work is vital. It is undervalued and underpaid. These facts cannot be detached from the increasing reliance on migrant workers in the sector.
All workers – whether they were born in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka or Scarborough – deserve to have decent pay and their rights respected.
But too many unscrupulous employers exploit a knowledge gap that workers from the global south can have. Often, they are less likely to know about entitlements to breaks, decent working practices, and more likely to put up with worse treatment.
For many migrant workers the realities of working in UK care homes and other care settings are stark.
Holed up in B&Bs without access to laundry or cooking facilities and ferried to and from the workplaces. Indebted to agencies that secured their contracts and take a cut of their pay cheques. Unable to switch employers without risking their right to live and work in the UK.
And now unable to bring over dependents. It is little wonder that the first month this new punitive policy from the government has been in place, that we’ve seen a colossal drop in carers coming to work in the UK.
This lack of power that these workers have make them ripe for exploitation.
Knowledge is power. And bad employers know this. Care workers left at the whim of employers – risking their wrath means risking your right to work in the UK.
For any worker born in the UK, if you are in a poor employment situation, you at least have the option of leaving to work for somebody else. But for many overseas workers, they cannot easily do this without risking so much.
This is why trade unions are so vital in these spaces. We fight for all workers – no matter where they were born.
And it isn’t just for workers that this matters.
Service users suffer if we can’t recruit skilled carers. If the sector remains dependent on a dwindling supply of workers, who are spread too thinly, service users will not receive the level of care they need.
Let’s not beat around the bush. Insufficient numbers of care workers means that the health and dignity of service users is undermined. Fewer workers cannot do all the work that is needed, no matter how hard they try.
And we can’t just accept this continuous race to the bottom in a sector that vulnerable people depend on. We should be looking to drive up standards of care, not pile more and more pressure on fewer care workers.
We need to fix the recruitment pipeline, and central to this is improving pay and conditions for all workers. That’s why GMB has long called for at least £15 per hour for all care workers.
But for overseas care workers, there has to be proper support, not erratic attacks to meet arbitrary net migration targets. Bad bosses who exploit their lack of knowledge need to be subject to the full force of employment law.
Tying workers up with visas can’t be used as a cover for exploitation. People who do so much for our most vulnerable deserve at the very least to have dignity at work.
We must make these changes. For service users and workers alike.
Care workers deserve better and they can demand better. That’s what we will always fight for – side by side with care workers.
With a general election on the horizon what should the priorities be for the next Government when it comes to tackling workforce challenges in social care and developing policies for a robust system fit for the future.
Care work is vital. It is undervalued and underpaid. These facts cannot be detached from the increasing reliance on migrant workers in the sector.
All workers – whether they were born in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka or Scarborough – deserve to have decent pay and their rights respected.
But too many unscrupulous employers exploit a knowledge gap that workers from the global south can have. Often, they are less likely to know about entitlements to breaks, decent working practices, and more likely to put up with worse treatment.
For many migrant workers the realities of working in UK care homes and other care settings are stark.
Holed up in B&Bs without access to laundry or cooking facilities and ferried to and from the workplaces. Indebted to agencies that secured their contracts and take a cut of their pay cheques. Unable to switch employers without risking their right to live and work in the UK.
And now unable to bring over dependents. It is little wonder that the first month this new punitive policy from the government has been in place, that we’ve seen a colossal drop in carers coming to work in the UK.
This lack of power that these workers have make them ripe for exploitation.
Knowledge is power. And bad employers know this. Care workers left at the whim of employers – risking their wrath means risking your right to work in the UK.
For any worker born in the UK, if you are in a poor employment situation, you at least have the option of leaving to work for somebody else. But for many overseas workers, they cannot easily do this without risking so much.
This is why trade unions are so vital in these spaces. We fight for all workers – no matter where they were born.
And it isn’t just for workers that this matters.
Service users suffer if we can’t recruit skilled carers. If the sector remains dependent on a dwindling supply of workers, who are spread too thinly, service users will not receive the level of care they need.
Let’s not beat around the bush. Insufficient numbers of care workers means that the health and dignity of service users is undermined. Fewer workers cannot do all the work that is needed, no matter how hard they try.
And we can’t just accept this continuous race to the bottom in a sector that vulnerable people depend on. We should be looking to drive up standards of care, not pile more and more pressure on fewer care workers.
We need to fix the recruitment pipeline, and central to this is improving pay and conditions for all workers. That’s why GMB has long called for at least £15 per hour for all care workers.
But for overseas care workers, there has to be proper support, not erratic attacks to meet arbitrary net migration targets. Bad bosses who exploit their lack of knowledge need to be subject to the full force of employment law.
Tying workers up with visas can’t be used as a cover for exploitation. People who do so much for our most vulnerable deserve at the very least to have dignity at work.
We must make these changes. For service users and workers alike.
Care workers deserve better and they can demand better. That’s what we will always fight for – side by side with care workers.
@GMB_union
gmb.org.uk
