migrant workers – Union Newswire

North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery

Salford mayor Paul Dennett and some of Salford’s campaigning migrant care workers

UNISON members in Salford have paved the way for a new charter that seeks to prevent migrant care workers becoming victims of modern slavery.

The members, migrant care workers themselves, were instrumental in the creation of North West region’s Migrant Care Worker Charter.

Salford mayor Paul Dennett was the first council leader to sign the charter, in September, after a period of local organising and campaigning.

UNISON president and Salford City branch secretary Steve North is not only calling on more council leaders in the region to sign up, but for central government “to end this scandal.”

The problem

In 2020 the government introduced the health and care worker visa to allow medical professionals to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care.

But one unintended consequence of the visa has been a surge in modern slavery. UNISON activists are finding that migrant workers are too often the victims of exploitation, including poor accommodation and bad employment practices – such as the illegal deduction of wages, high agency fees, employers not paying the minimum wage, trade union victimisation and inadequate health and safety.

NHS Employers, the employers’ organisation in England, has already sought to address some of these issues by creating the ethical recruiter list for NHS trusts seeking to hire overseas workers.

UNISON believes that it is time for local authorities and the NHS to address these issues in social care in their commissioning arrangements.

Salford City

Paul Dennett standing with a large number of UNISON members in the Salford council chamber

Late last year Salford City branch was made aware of a care home that was due to close and be demolished, because the owners wanted to use the land to build apartments. The branch intervened and, although it was impossible to save the home, it managed to secure pay that was being withheld and new jobs for a lot of the staff.

Steve North says that, “Some of those workers were on sponsored social care visas and would have been deported had we not found them other jobs.”

News of the union’s intervention spread, leading to a group of Indian workers on sponsored visas approaching the branch office. They said that they weren’t being paid for their full hours at a local homecare company, and that their leader had been dismissed for standing up to the company.

The branch recruited them into UNISON, won them thousands of pounds in owed earnings, got the leader his job back – he is now a rep – and forced a recognition agreement with the company.

Mr North notes: “While we recognised organising was the most fundamental way of challenging this exploitation, we felt that the council should do more to ensure they weren’t commissioning companies who exploit sponsored workers.

“We also knew it was an issue that went beyond Salford. So, working with North West UNISON and other branches, like Bolton UNISON, we supported the sponsored workers to inform a migrant worker charter for social care. The workers themselves came up with the demands and have led the meetings regarding the charter.”

The charter

The charter has seven steps to protect migrant social care workers:

Fair and equitable treatment
Decent housing
No agency or recruitment fees
No victimisation for trade union activity
Councils to create an ethical recruiter list to stop exploitative employers getting public money
‘Wraparound safety at work’ that acknowledges issues that may be faced by migrant workers at times of social unrest
Signatories identifying as an ’employer of last resort’ for migrant workers who have their job ended through no fault of their own.

Mr North adds: “We in Salford City UNISON are incredibly proud to have secured the first council leader’s signature on the charter. We are grateful for the ongoing support of Paul Dennett and we appreciate him standing by these workers.

“But this is not a political victory. This is an industrial victory, led by sponsored workers who have organised themselves into UNISON, led this campaign and faced down exploitative employers, despite risks of dismissal and deportation.

“They have been supported by our tireless Salford City UNISON local organiser Matthew Dickinson and our Black members’ officer and national vice president Julia Mwaluke, herself a migrant care worker.

“We now need more council leaders to sign up, but we also need government to end this scandal. Migrant workers are organising in UNISON to make sure that happens.”

Yorkshire & Humberside also launched a migrant care worker charter, this month.

The region’s migrant worker lead Jordan Stapleton said: “For too long, migrant workers have been treated appallingly after coming to the UK to care for some of society’s most vulnerable people.

“This charter is a significant step towards stopping the awful conditions they experience. UNISON will be working with councils across Yorkshire and Humberside to crack down on this exploitative behaviour, and ensure these workers are treated with the respect they deserve.”

North West migrant worker charter

Yorkshire & Humberside migrant worker charter

The article North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery first appeared on the UNISON National site.

North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery

Salford mayor Paul Dennett and some of Salford’s campaigning migrant care workers

UNISON members in Salford have paved the way for a new charter that seeks to prevent migrant care workers becoming victims of modern slavery.

The members, migrant care workers themselves, were instrumental in the creation of North West region’s Migrant Care Worker Charter.

Salford mayor Paul Dennett was the first council leader to sign the charter, in September, after a period of local organising and campaigning.

UNISON president and Salford City branch secretary Steve North is not only calling on more council leaders in the region to sign up, but for central government “to end this scandal.”

The problem

NHS Employers, the employers’ organisation in England, has already sought to address some of these issues by creating the ethical recruiter list for NHS trusts seeking to hire overseas workers.

UNISON believes that it is time for local authorities and the NHS to address these issues in social care in their commissioning arrangements.

Salford City

Steve North says that, “Some of those workers were on sponsored social care visas and would have been deported had we not found them other jobs.”

The branch recruited them into UNISON, won them thousands of pounds in owed earnings, got the leader his job back – he is now a rep – and forced a recognition agreement with the company.

The charter

The charter has seven steps to protect migrant social care workers:

Fair and equitable treatment
Decent housing
No agency or recruitment fees
No victimisation for trade union activity
Councils to create an ethical recruiter list to stop exploitative employers getting public money
‘Wraparound safety at work’ that acknowledges issues that may be faced by migrant workers at times of social unrest
Signatories identifying as an ’employer of last resort’ for migrant workers who have their job ended through no fault of their own.

“We now need more council leaders to sign up, but we also need government to end this scandal. Migrant workers are organising in UNISON to make sure that happens.”

Yorkshire & Humberside also launched a migrant care worker charter, this month.

The region’s migrant worker lead Jordan Stapleton said: “For too long, migrant workers have been treated appallingly after coming to the UK to care for some of society’s most vulnerable people.

North West migrant worker charter

Yorkshire & Humberside migrant worker charter

The article North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Delegates pledge to challenge exploitation of migrant workers

On the first day of UNISON’s national delegate conference, delegates debated the need to challenge the exploitation of migrant workers, particularly in social care.

Paramedic Glen Carrington, from the NEC, said that, as an immigrant himself, being seen as ‘inferior’ was deeply unpleasant.

Mr Carrington described how, earlier this year, he was called to a care home a number of times and each time, saw a nurse, “dead on her feet”. The third time, he asked if she hadn’t got a home to go to. She explained that she lived upstairs and, when the home didn’t have enough staff, she was called down.

She received no overtime and refusal to work could see her sacked. She was a migrant worker. If she then couldn’t find another job within 12 months, she could be deported.

Mr Carrington was shocked, but unsure whether this was really possible, so he started “digging around” and found that this was happening.

Speaking in support of the motion, a delegate stressed that migrant workers – from outside the EU – contribute £5.2billion to the UK’s economy.

Conference called on the NEC to:

Raise awareness of the migrant worker network
Support the work of branches and regions in organising migrant workers workers with resources and advice
Campaign to improve the rights of migrant workers
Continue to campaign against the ‘hostile environment’.

The article Delegates pledge to challenge exploitation of migrant workers first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Delegates pledge to challenge exploitation of migrant workers

On the first day of UNISON’s national delegate conference, delegates debated the need to challenge the exploitation of migrant workers, particularly in social care.

Paramedic Glen Carrington, from the NEC, said that, as an immigrant himself, being seen as ‘inferior’ was deeply unpleasant.

She received no overtime and refusal to work could see her sacked. She was a migrant worker. If she then couldn’t find another job within 12 months, she could be deported.

Mr Carrington was shocked, but unsure whether this was really possible, so he started “digging around” and found that this was happening.

Speaking in support of the motion, a delegate stressed that migrant workers – from outside the EU – contribute £5.2billion to the UK’s economy.

Conference called on the NEC to:

Raise awareness of the migrant worker network
Support the work of branches and regions in organising migrant workers workers with resources and advice
Campaign to improve the rights of migrant workers
Continue to campaign against the ‘hostile environment’.

The article Delegates pledge to challenge exploitation of migrant workers first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Rising visa fees and reduced student numbers could worsen NHS recruitment crisis, says UNISON

Commenting on new Nursing and Midwifery Council data published today (Thursday), UNISON national nursing officer Stuart Tuckwood said: “It‘s encouraging to see a rise in the number of nurses and midwives registered to work in the UK.

“But the NHS workforce crisis hasn’t gone away. The number of students starting nursing courses this year in England has plummeted by 12%.

“Much more must be done to recruit and keep hold of the health and care staff who are so desperately needed.

“Around half of new nurses are from overseas and without them, the NHS would collapse. Ministers must understand there are consequences to demonising migrant workers, who may choose to simply go to more welcoming countries.

“Nurses already here are considering moving elsewhere, driven away by poor pay and rising visa fees. The language from ministers in recent days will most likely deter others from joining the NHS at all.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Dan Ashley M: 07908 672893 E: d.ashley@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk

The article Rising visa fees and reduced student numbers could worsen NHS recruitment crisis, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Rising visa fees and reduced student numbers could worsen NHS recruitment crisis, says UNISON

“But the NHS workforce crisis hasn’t gone away. The number of students starting nursing courses this year in England has plummeted by 12%.

“Much more must be done to recruit and keep hold of the health and care staff who are so desperately needed.

Media contacts:
Dan Ashley M: 07908 672893 E: d.ashley@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk

The article Rising visa fees and reduced student numbers could worsen NHS recruitment crisis, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: The shocking treatment of migrant workers harms us all

UNISON has gathered evidence of appalling exploitation of migrant workers by unscrupulous care bosses.

Care is one of the biggest industries in the UK, but also one of the most precarious. It’s broken, on the brink of collapse and only being propped up by the work of migrants.

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.

Our report, Expendable Labour details shocking treatment of migrant care workers in the UK care system.

We found the ultimate abuse of workers. Brought over here on false promises of a better life and charged dodgy fees that cost them their homes and savings. Some find they’re either overworked on 80 hours a week, or given too few hours to survive off. Given inadequate training, living in poor conditions and threatened with deportation if they speak out.

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.

Rather than focusing on fixing social care and ensuring decent pay and care for those who need it, the likes of Robert Jenrick, Minister for Immigration, are happy to see the care system completely collapse. His suggestions of capping visas for care workers and his desire to prevent them from bringing children or other dependent family members with them, will only make the problems in care worse.

Any increase on the current 152,000 care staff vacancies spells deep trouble for the whole sector.

So we’re calling on the government to take urgent action to stop that from happening.

Immigration reform and the creation of a national care service are the answer.

Visa extensions would allow care workers more time to seek employment with a new sponsor, and a national care service would ensure decent pay, terms and conditions to prevent abuse and exploitation.

Fixing social care ultimately means guaranteed support for those who need it. But it would also help to grow our economy. And what better way to do it, than through a national care service that everyone can be proud of.

The article Blog: The shocking treatment of migrant workers harms us all first appeared on the UNISON National site.