STRIKING Care UK workers were joined by Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday after a delegation of strikers met him in his Doncaster North constituency office.

Unison shop steward Roger Hutt said Mr Miliband appeared “shell-shocked” at their revelations of the treatment of the Doncaster care workers by health privateer Care UK.

But he added that Mr Miliband also appeared sympathetic to their cause.

Mr Hutt was accompanied by strikers Trevor Ian Edwards and Nicky Naylor.

The Labour leader is constituency MP for many of the strikers and agreed to meet a delegation from the pickets.

“We let him have both barrels,” said Mr Hutt. “We had a 15-minute slot but were with him for 40 to 45 minutes.

“We told him about everything we are fighting for.”

Initially the workers struck against the cuts forced on them by Care UK. They are now fighting for a living wage.

Mr Hutt said they expressed their fears about the safety of the people they care for, as many highly skilled and committed former NHS workers are leaving Care UK.

“We told him they are being replaced by poorly-trained low-paid people who do not have the commitment our people show to those we care for.

“Nicky broke down in tears because she is having to leave because of the pay cuts.

“He asked what we wanted. We asked him to publicly declare his support for us. We asked him to publicly oppose the selling-off of public health services to people driven by private profit. He said he was very sympathetic and that this needed to be resolved.”

Mr Miliband’s media office did not respond to a Morning Star request for a comment.