Over 80 home care workers in Stockport are facing redundancy

Nearly half of the home care workers at a council-owned company in Stockport are facing redundancy.

The workers are employed by ISSK, a company set up by the council in 2009, and 81 out of 146 home care workers are facing redundancy, alongside 16 clerical staff and 16 managers.

The home care workers have been given 90-day redundancy notices. UNISON branch secretary Angela Rayner has been holding meetings with the affected staff and said they are “devastated”.

Ms Rayner said it is “the worst thing I have seen since I have been a trade union official, and I have been one for over 10 years.”

The union is now involved in statutory consultation over the plans, but it is also trying to get the home care service and workers, brought fully back in-house under Stockport Council once more.

“When the service was in-house overheads ran at £38 an hour - now they're up to £53 an hour in just a few years, while our members have had a pay freeze. It's not labour costs that have gone up.

“This is down to a failure to manage the service, and our members shouldn't pay for that,” said Ms Rayner.

She claims ISSK have used the threat of redundancy to attack hours and terms and conditions, telling staff: "If you don't like it, we'll make you redundant."

Stockport Council and ISSK have invested heavily in staff training, so that all home-care workers are assistant practitioners with foundation degrees.

"Some of them have only recently qualified, and now they're being threatened with redundancy to save a few pounds ... but the company would then have to spend money training replacement workers on worse hours and conditions.

"It's a short-term gain for long-term pain. It's madness,” she added.

ISSK claims it is holding a 90-day consultation on proposals to alter staff terms and conditions, in order to reduce company costs.

ISSK is part of Solutions SK, which is currently in financial trouble.

Councillor David Wilson called the situation “catastrophic” and said: “Home Care Support workers are highly trained and deliver a vital service to many vulnerable residents. They are paying the price for management incompetence. We will do all we can to support the unions in their fight for these jobs and this essential service”.