CARE WORKERS could eliminate poverty pay from their profession if a London council forces a contractor to adopt the living wage, union activists say.

Campaigners were lobbying a meeting of Camden council on Monday night as it handed the keys of a second care home to privateer Shaw Healthcare.

Workers in the borough who specialise in looking after dementia patients are paid £7.57 per hour.

But public-sector union Unison says outsourcing by Camden’s previous Lib Dem-Tory administration means new workers receive 30 to 40 per cent less.

Some workers transferred from council employment were offered a lump sum in compensation.

Camden Unison secretary George Binette told the Star he was now hoping the council would put “serious pressure on Shaw in a way they weren’t prepared to in 2013, when we first raised the demand for the living wage.

“We think they’re somewhat fearful of reputational damage,” he said.

Shaw, run by former Benedictine monk Jeremy Nixey, has come under fire for abuse of residents at a Somerset home.

Unison argues that low pay has a direct effect on the quality of care.

“If we win, we’d hope it would have an inspirational effect on Shaw workers elsewhere,” Mr Binette continued.

“It would put pressure on Unison to launch a serious recruitment campaign in social care, with the living wage as a bare minimum.”

Petitioning the council, Mr Binette called on the authority to “dip into its reserves” to fund extra pay if Shaw would not cough up.

Camden’s Labour social care chief Sally Gimson said: “We’d urge Shaw to come to the negotiating table, instead of expecting the council to meet the full cost of implementation.”