by Sofia Lotto Persio

FOSTER carers are unionising for the first time in the hope that local authorities will recognise their full workers’ rights.

At an oversubscribed meeting organised with the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) on Monday, a group of foster care workers spoke of how they miss out on rights such as sick pay, holidays and pensions as the profession does not have defined employment status.

As well as seeking legal rights, foster carers also discussed the issue of being consulted when decisions are made about the child in their care.

Currently local authorities are not obliged to inform foster carers about decisions including when they plan to move the child elsewhere.

Foster care workers participating in the meeting voted to organise themselves as a branch of the IWGB, a non-TUC affiliated union aimed at “organising the unorganised, the abandoned and the betrayed.”

IWGB general secretary Jason Moyer-Lee said that ensuring a better, fairer treatment of foster care workers will benefit the care provided to children, too.

“Foster care workers do important, highly skilled work and they should be treated accordingly,” he said.

“The children will not benefit by having foster care workers being bullied by local authorities or having irrational decisions taken against them or who are not being remunerated enough to pay the bills.”

A group of foster care workers will now work on formally setting up the branch, its infrastructure and its constitution.

On the legal side, they will be consulting with a trade union barrister to put together a test case to gain more employment rights.

They will also work with shadow chancellor John McDonnell to create a cross-party group in Parliament to examine the need for new legislation to protect foster care workers.

Mr McDonnell said: “Foster caring is an essential role in our society, and these foster carers carry a burden for the rest of our community so they should be properly recognised.

“They should have security of their employment and be properly paid as well, and they should have the support that they need.”

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