3 February 2016

The First Minister visited Living Wage employer St Joseph’s Service who offer care at home and housing support to adults with learning disabilities in the Edinburgh area and heard from care workers already being paid the additional wage.

Ahead of the Budget stage one debate in the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister urged local authorities to agree the deal set out by Finance Secretary John Swinney and begin delivering a fair wage to social care workers in Scotland.

FM @nicolasturgeon visited accredited Living Wage employer St Joseph’s Service in Rosewell https://t.co/ohJarEdi95 pic.twitter.com/umHgX2w5lV

— First Minister (@ScotGovFM) February 3, 2016

Ms Sturgeon said:

We are committed to making Scotland a fairer place for all, and I can think of no better way to promote that ideal than by ensuring our care workers receive the Living Wage in return for the invaluable work that they do.

The Scottish Government and local authorities have a shared aspiration to deliver and promote fairness in the work place and to work towards a living wage. The funding available in this year’s budget means that can now be achieved.

We recognise that there are pressures on budgets across the whole of the public sector. The offer made by John Swinney to councils is a good deal that will help some of those low paid workers get the boost to their incomes that they deserve. I hope that local authorities do the right thing and respond positively to our offer.”

Whilst at St Joseph’s Service the First Minister managed to share a cup of tea with Stuart and Alan who collectively have been using the service for over 60 years.

Director of St Joseph’s Services Winnie Tuohy said:

A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work – that should apply to any type of work. It is very important that when people strive to better themselves it should be rewarded.

The values of our organisation drove us to invest in the movement. Social care has been undervalued for years. The workers have been marginalised and their value not recognised. It’s about justice and equality. On top of this, this type of work is not always attractive, paying the Living Wage is a good way to promote that it is valuable work.”