Care support workers employed by the Alternative Futures Group (AFG) in the north west of England have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action in a ballot over the employer’s decision to cut back on sleep-in top-up payments.
The group’s existing plans will cost staff as much as £15 for each sleep-in shift.
Some staff work three of these shifts each week and face a cut to their income of more than £2,000 a year.
UNISON, including representatives of the workforce, is now meeting AFG at ACAS in an effort to resolve the dispute.
“The overwhelming vote for strike action increases the pressure on AFG to resolve this dispute,” says UNISON regional organiser Tim Ellis.
“There is tremendous support for the care workers from service users’ friends and families, and the councils who commission the services.
A ballot of 660 UNISON members saw an 87% vote in favour of striking, in a turnout that met the threshold for lawful industrial action to take place.
