Lambeth Council senior leaders signed up to the UNISON ethical care charter on 18 March.
UNISON has been campaigning for Council’s to sign the Ethical Care Charter since 2013 after a survey of care sector workers found “a committed but poorly paid and treated workforce which is doing its best to maintain good levels of quality care in a system that is in crisis”
The idea of the charter is “to establish a minimum baseline for the safety, quality and dignity of care by ensuring employment conditions which a) do not routinely short- change clients and b) ensure the recruitment and retention of a more stable workforce through more sustainable pay, conditions and training levels. Rather than councils seeking to achieve savings by driving down the pay and conditions that have been the norm for council – employed staff, they should be using these as a benchmark against which to level up.”
You can read the UNISON ethical care charter online by clicking on the link below.
The task for UNISON now is to ensure that the charter makes a difference on the ground to workers in the care sector. If you are reading this and you work in care but are not a member of UNISON then you can join today at join.unison.org.uk.
Lambeth UNISON 