Why residential workers are out

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nalga olgo No NoW! NOWH CONI te. a 1.000-strong lobby of talks on October 17, the employers wouldn't budge lakhinftalloon Aetnhor 17 the amnlowers wnuldn't hudge bini the ORGANISER Party ORGANISER humt Socialist Labour Fight the By Harry WAGE-CUT PLAN Heffer SINCE September 12, NALGO's residential workers have been operating an overtime and admissions ban in support of a claim for reduction of the working week to 35 hours, plus payment for working shifts and irregular hours, weekends and public holidays — in other words, what other council workers are entitled to.

Residential work in social services departments covers homes for the elderly, mentally handicapped, disabled, mentally ill and young people in the care of the local authority.

The job means providing cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on a rota system. Our current pay system makes no payments for unsocial hours or routinely working weekends and holidays.

This leads to the strange situation that a manual worker in the same establishment as residential care officers will rightly receive such payments, whilst the residential workers get none.

It is a job that has been persistently undervalued, both by the social service hierarchies and by the public in general. Residential care has usually been regarded as a 'last resort' where options like fostering and other "community' care have not been possible.

Status ‹ This low status is harmful to its workforce and to the residents, and is reflected in low pay and bad conditions. For years Social Services have depended on the good will of their residential workers, who have in effect subsidised the running of the homes by acceptance of insufficient resources and staffing.

From the union's viewpoint, residential workers have been notoriously difficult to organise, being isolated in their workplaces and low in morale. Their plight has not been very high on NALGO's list of priorities in the past.

The acceptance of inadequate conditions takes its toll. Stresses in the job are at a very high level. The people that are in the care of residential staff are amongst the most infirm, dependent and difficult that the social service agencies deal with.

The task that residential workers are asked to carry out involves both looking after their residents' physical needs and helping with their emotional demands - a job that is never 'finished' Couple all that with long, irregular hours, a disrupted social life, and lack of support, and the -result is staff sickness and a high turnover as staff move out of residential work altogether.

In the end, of course, this affects the quality of care available for those living in the homes. Residential care at the moment provides a vital service for those most in need. It can only be improved by proper funding and recognition.

The alternative is the dream of the Conservative Party more reliance on coping within the family and through fostering. It is, after all, cheaper to place the burden back onto women at home.

This is the first time that national industrial action has been By Michele Raithy, children's home sine LADI Despite a 1 uvu strong wopy us min» called for on behalf of residential workers. The responsibility for this lies with the national employers, and the way in which they have conducted negotiations.

By dragging their feet, they have drawn out talks on this claim for five years. Their cavalier approach culminated in their rejection of all aspects of the claim (on June 6) as having 'no merits' They must have assumed that residential workers would not respond to being treated with contempt. However, a ballot over the summer resulted in a massive 'yes' to industrial action.

At long last, residential workers were showing their anger and refusing to buckle under moral blackmail.

Since the action began, the national employers have continued to use delaying tactics, refusing to make any new offer at their meeting on September 28. Instead, they proposed an adjournment to an 'early date' for further negotiations. This early date turned out to be October 17! Plenty of time to take in the Tory Party conference en route.

They are acting as though the claim has come as a total surprise, instead of being in their in-tray since 1978.

The admissions ban has meant that no-one has been given a residential place since the f nucen OR In the past, such understaffing has been masked by residential workers doing overtime and sometimes working 70 hours a week.

Now homes are being closed daily because of the dispute. Pressure is being kept up on councils to take responsibility both for their clients and for putting pressure in turn onto those negotiating with NALGO.

Some authorities have seen fit to use direct intimidation against their workforces to try to frighten them into submission. In Cleveland, one residential worker was taken off the payroll after refusing an admission in line with the action.

Over 40 staff went on strike in reply, and the victimised man was reinstated. Other local strikes are occurring because of attempts to break the action.

Other unsubtle tactics have included Strathclyde's and Barnet's answer to chronic understaffing - to draft in hundreds of 'relief workers' on temporary contracts. NALGO members are refusing to cooperate with these cynical manoeuvres.

Supposedly 'left' Labour boroughs haven't been prominent in their support, either, and abpur anity SATS I-PAY UP THE have even been abusive and hostile. In areas where this is happening, support needs to come from local Labour Party wards.

Other workers and Labour Parties can lend their support, which will be vital in the face of predictably vicious attacks by the Press and the employers.

Residential workers already have the support of the people they work with, as the following statement issued by the National Association of Young People in Care (NAYPIC) shows: "Many young people in care would find their position greatly improved if residential social workers got a better deal.

For example, the staff turn. over would not be so great. Staff morale would improve, so making a happier environment in the home.

Residential workers do all the day to day work with the young people in care, but receive little credit or status, either as workers in the child care system, or in society.

NAYPIC understands the issues in this dispute, and does support the staff because our members are affected by their working conditions"

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