Salford City Council commits to paying all social care workers The Real Living Wage

By George Icke - 10th Feb 2022

Salford City Council has confirmed it will commit to paying all social care workers in the city the Real Living Wage from 1 April 2022 as part of the new financial year.

The Mayor of Salford, Paul Dennett, said: “I am delighted to announce that all our care workers, our heroes of lockdown, will receive the Real Living Wage. It is absolutely without (sic) doubt the right thing to do, our care workers who have actively been our fourth emergency service throughout the pandemic deserve every penny!”

The pay increase is going to be a massive change for over 4,000 care workers in Salford. The change would uplift salaries to £9.90 per hour. 86% of these staff members are women and over half work part-time with the majority in family age groups. It is also expected that the pay reward will help retain our care worker heroes in this critical sector.

The increase is subject to the agreement of budgets by Salford City Council and Salford CCG.

Mayor Dennett said: “We have appealed for Government to address the health and social care crisis but can’t continue to sit back and watch the exodus of people from the sector"

“The decision is one of the ways that we are tackling poverty in the city, as these are amongst the lowest paid workers. The National Living Wage will be £9.50 from April 2022. The Real Living Wage will lift that to £9.90 per hour which is an extra £768 per year, making a definite difference to people’s lives.

Salford is striving to become a Real Living Wage city where the vast majority of people will be paid the new wage.

Dr Tom Tasker, GP and chair of NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group said: “Care workers play a critical role in looking after some of the most vulnerable people in Salford, ensuring they receive the best possible care.

“We recognise that all care workers have a challenging and demanding job which has been especially difficult throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Steve North, Branch Secretary of Salford City UNISON, the trade union representing Salford care workers said: “If a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable, then it should also be judged by how it treats those who care for the most vulnerable. Care and support workers have always been underappreciated heroes and the pandemic has highlighted this for everyone to see. UNISON has long campaigned for these crucial key workers to receive at least the Real Living Wage and we commend the City Mayor, the council and the CCG for working with us to deliver this increase.”