MP Bill Esterson joined a Ladies Day protest with a difference when he lent his support to care workers in a dispute over pay.
As a Liverpool newspaper led a campaign to stop women racegoers being portrayed negatively in the national media, the MP stopped by to back a dispute by care workers on strike over sleep-in payments.
The Alternative Futures Group (AFG) staff – who are mostly women – face a pay cut to below the minimum wage after Government guidance stated that staff who are sleeping for some or all of their shift could be paid less than the minimum wage.
This followed a Court of Appeal hearing last July – overturning a previous employment tribunal decision – ruling that care workers were not entitled to the minimum wage for all of a sleep-in shift.
The Court of Appeal ruled that flat fees of less than the minimum wage were allowed for periods when workers might be asleep.
Mr Esterson said: “The protest on Ladies Day was a great way to raise awareness of the campaign for fair pay for these workers. Unison members explained to Ladies Day racegoers how the majority of these Unison members are low-paid women who are now experiencing further attacks on pay. The Government has to step in to increase the funding for social care so that providers and local authorities can afford to pay a fair wage for a fair day’s – or night’s – pay.”
A sleep-in shift is undertaken by workers on the basis that they can be woken up to undertake work at any point. A worker on call can be working for much of their shift and should be paid as such, said the MP.
Mr Esterson said he supported the strike action: “What we are seeing is agreed rates of pay slashed across the country. The Government has a duty to ensure a fair deal for employees and employers alike.
“The Government has a chance to do the right thing – by ensuring legislation is clear that all workers are entitled to the national minimum wage and making sure cash-strapped local authorities genuinely have new money to fund overnight care. The government has used a loophole to cut the wages of some of the poorest paid women workers, women who care for vulnerable and disabled people.
“Lots of care organisations and local authorities want to pay their staff fairly for the work they do but can only do this if properly funded.”
The Court of Appeal judgement on sleep-in shifts has been challenged by the trade union Unison and will now be heard by the Supreme Court, but it is not known when a decision will be made.
The estimated cost in back pay if the court judgement is reversed is potentially as high as £400m in for the entire sector.
But Mr Esterson said: “The notion that mainly private companies can manage their affairs by paying such important work at the absolute minimum they can get away with is morally wrong and puts a service that will only grow in importance in coming years at dire risk. Who will care for our most vulnerable citizens if we are not prepared to pay staff properly?
“We should treat vulnerable elderly people and people with disabilities with dignity and that means decent pay and conditions for those dedicated workers who look after them. I will always remember the women who cared for my mum in her last few months at home and just how hard they worked. And I’ll always remember when they told me how badly paid they were and how little of their time was paid. They were only paid for a fraction of what they actually did and it is a scandal the way we treat those doing such vitally important work. Making sure that those working overnight and on call are paid fairly is an important campaign and the women fighting for their pay have my full support.”
The AFG workers were on strike from 7.30am on Friday (April 5) to 7.30am the next day and handed out leaflets saying “Sleep-ins to win” to racegoers at Aintree Racecourse. A further 48 hour stoppage was due to take place from Monday April 8 from 7.30am.
PIC: Bill Esterson MP with AFG workers protesting about pay outside Aintree
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