Croydon and Lewisham care home workers gather in protest over wages

By Maeve Cullinan

Protesters at Barchester Healthcare care homes across South London are demanding workers be paid the real Living Wage.

Barchester Healthcare is a private care provider running more than 250 care homes across the country.

Campaigners are calling on management to commit to paying their workers appropriately during the deepening cost-of-living crisis.

The Living Wage Foundation has said that the Real Living Wage has risen by 10.1 per cent this year due to the cost-of-living crisis, the largest year-on-year rise yet. It says the appropriate wage is now £11.95 per hour in London.

The coordinated action was organised by Citizens UK, a charity which aims to empower communities and organise collective action.

Local leaders sang Christmas carols and handed out bags of chocolate coins and Christmas cards to care workers, before joining more than 100 community leaders from across London at Barchester’s HQ in Finsbury.

Fredlyne Evbuomwan, a care worker and Citizens UK leader, said: “So many care workers are not able to put food on their own tables or are falling behind on bills, even when care providers are making profits.

“It doesn’t provide workers the dignity they deserve, which is why I urge all employers to pay their workers a real Living Wage.”

The move is part of the wider campaign to ‘Make London a Living Wage City’, a project led by Citizens UK and the Living Wage Foundation. They aim to lift tens of thousands out of in-work poverty by putting £635m of wages into the pockets of Londoners.

In Croydon and Lewisham,18.9 per cent and 15.1 per cent of jobs respectively pay below the Living Wage, according to a recent analysis by the Living Wage Foundation.

In November 2022, research by the Living Wage Foundation found that 3.5 million UK jobs are currently paid below the real Living Wage, the lowest level in over 10 years. Forecasts show that this is expected to jump to 5.1 million next year.

A spokesman for Barchester Healthcare said: “We take the well-being of our employees very seriously and offer the most comprehensive remuneration package in the care sector.

“We actively benchmark ourselves against other providers to ensure we are in the upper quartile on remuneration for care home staff.

“We have sector-leading staff benefits and rewards. During the Covid pandemic, we paid three additional bonuses to our front line staff in order to thank them for their tireless work in maintaining extremely high standards of care.

“As voted by our own employees, last year we were awarded a Two Star Outstanding ‘Best Companies to Work For’ accreditation (being the only large healthcare provider to have received such accreditation), in recognition of our standing as an employer of choice in the sector.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to continually invest in the quality of care for residents and patients by recruiting and retaining the very best staff, we added to our sector-leading staff benefits and rewards with an additional £8.1m being invested in our pay and bonus structure this year meaning that all of our staff based in homes and hospitals are paid at least 40p above the national living wage and received a special bonus in July 2022, on average a further £700 for those that qualified.”

Pictured top: Some of the care workers gathered to make their point about wages  (Picture: Citizens UK)