Carers round up—Birmingham home care keep up fight + AFG strikes

Care workers in Birmingham struck last Saturday against council bosses’ plans to slash jobs and run down the service.

The Unison union members also plan to strike this Saturday.

The Labour-run council wants to force the already low paid, predominantly woman workforce onto part-time hours—a cut of up to £4,000 a year for some.

Workers at the home enablement service provide short-term care to vulnerable people in their own homes.

They should continue to take action until Birmingham council backs down.

And other trade unionists must build solidarity with their fight.

Sleep-in workers fight back

Home carers are at Alternative Futures Group (AFG) began a seven-day programme of action short of a strike on Monday.

The Unison union members won’t work overnight sleep-in shifts until 7.30am on Monday of next week.

They rallied outside AFG headquarters in Prescot, Merseyside, on Tuesday.

AFG wants to slash the pay for sleep-in shifts to a flat rate of around £40 for a nine-hour shift.

But strikers want the national minimum wage for every hour they are at work.

It comes in the wake of a High Court decision last year that ruled sleep-in workers could be paid a flat rate for an overnight shift.