CARE workers from across Scotland converged on Holyrood yesterday to demand the government return their “missing millions” after it slashed funding to promote fair work in social care.

The workers, represented by Unison, GMB and Unite, alongside the STUC are demanding the SNP Scottish government reverse the decision made in February’s budget to cut more than £38 million to the sector notorious for precarity and low pay.

Unions in the sector have now rallied around the STUC Missing Millions campaign to return the cash — ring-fenced to provide maternity, paternity and sick pay — building on an already growing campaign to win national collective bargaining and a £15-an-hour minimum wage in the sector.

Addressing the rally, Unison rep and personal assistant at third-sector care contractor Enable Scotland, Robyn Martin, called for an end to cuts and profiteering in social care.

“Seventy-one per cent of Unison members at Enable are taking on extra shifts to make ends meet, while the Scottish government lifted £38m from a budget to support care workers this year,” she said.

“Twenty per cent of income generated by the care sector is kept in the pockets of private profiteers, while in the so-called charity sector, the Richmond Fellowship maintains £58m in reserves.

“All over Scotland care workers have come here today, united to say to the Scottish government that we are undervalued, understaffed and underpaid.

“Today, we demand a seat at the table when it comes to decision-making in the sector, we demand collective bargaining across the sector, and we demand better controls to stop the profiteering  from starving a service we built.”

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “Cutting the budget to improve the terms, pay and conditions of Scotland’s social care workers is, quite frankly, unforgivable.

“This was a sleekit move from the Scottish government with no transparency, no accountability and, worse, no promise of restoring the funding.

“These were the front-line workers that cared for those most in need during the pandemic. Some even paid with their lives protecting the vulnerable and our communities from the virus.

“For the Scottish government to cut the dedicated funding that would, in part, seek to implement Fair Work within the sector, with improved sick pay and conditions, is nothing short of betraying the workforce.

“We’re sending a clear message to all politicians, especially the Scottish government, that social care workers are demanding a return of the missing millions.”

 The Scottish government was contacted for comment.