Carers recruited from overseas are suffering appalling levels of exploitation, financial abuse and threats from unscrupulous employees, according to the Unison report – Expendable Labour.
Unison is now calling on the UK government and the Home Office to bring in measures to help safeguard against the shocking practices highlighted in the report. Measures, including a fully-funded minimum rate of pay above the national living wage for all care workers, recruitment only via agencies on the ethical recruiters list run by the NHS, and dedicated funds to enable councils to clamp down on abuse, and ultimately “a national care service to boost wages, put quality above profitmaking and ensure everyone receives the support they need.”
Unison General secretary Christina McAnea noted:
“Workers from abroad have sold everything they own to come here and care for people. But instead of receiving decent pay and conditions, and being treated with dignity and respect, the UK government is letting employers get away with terrible practices that should be consigned to history.”
“To top it off, ministers are demonising migrant workers by blaming them for all the country’s woes. They’re complicit in allowing the abuse to continue and in a raging culture war that’s now targeting low paid migrant workers.”
Full story on The Lowdown, 30 November 2023