Rochdale care workers staging 10-day strike

Care workers in Rochdale are staging a 10-day strike over basic pay cuts of up to 30%.

A new company, Future Directions, set up by Calderstones NHS Trust took over the running of the borough's social care for disabled people in September 2012.

This is the sixth time that union members have gone on strike regarding the issue. Unison claims that the company is trying to grow its business at the expense of its workers and that many employees are losing more than £500 a month. It is also suggested that four out of five people affected are women who mostly work part time.

Unison says the company has broken contract transfer laws and has lodged 100 employment tribunal cases against Future Directions, alleging staff were effectively "unfairly dismissed" after original contracts were replaced with new terms and conditions that slashed basic pay rates and also reduced sick pay and unsociable hours allowances.

The firm was awarded the reduced-rate contract by Rochdale Council after MacIntyre Care said it was unable to carry on providing the service without "service quality cuts and significant cost reductions".

In its 2012 annual report, MacIntyre Care said the contract was already making a loss due to the fixed staff wages that were protected by law.

But new contracts drawn up by not-for-profit Future Directions, set up by the Calderstones Trust to "enable more competitive delivery of services in markets where NHS pay rates are not sustainable", involve reduced pay.

In its Annual Plan for 2013-14 the trust said Future Directions would aim to make loss-making contracts profitable "using the flexibilities of being a social enterprise" to deliver care in a "market-focused and cost-effective way".

Lizanne Devonport, of Unison, said the trust has adopted a "strategy of expansion through exploitation" and local authorities should not be "scrimping" on a service that is vital for vulnerable people.

She said: "Our members in Rochdale are facing very serious reductions in their living standards and many are worried about losing their homes.

"What does it say about our society if providing care for vulnerable people is treated as something to provide as cheaply as you can get away with?

"Calderstones, through Future Directions, were willing to make cutbacks in Rochdale that other providers were not willing to make."

Union leaders also expressed concern that the trust is being investigated by watchdog Monitor, which is calling for an urgent review of standards of care after a patient was abused.

Rochdale Council said the budget for the service was reduced due to government cuts but it established the market rate and consulted other providers, who said they could deliver the service at the new rate.

Paula Braynion, managing director of Future Directions, said the new contract offered employees a "good deal" in the current economic climate.

He said: "As a not-for profit company outside the NHS, we can run services without needing to make a return on contracts.

"There is no more money in this contract and so these strikes serve only to interrupt [patients'] carefully managed routines and possibly cause them distress and disruption."