The social democratic understanding of progress in the 21st century combines social, economic, and ecological responsibility. The power of automation, combined with the global threats posed by increasing inequality and climate change – two of the greatest present-day challenges – prompts us to rethink much of our economic, industrial, and social models. Hence, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is committed to a Just Transition – a socially and ecologically just structural change that enables sustainable economic activity, climate protection, and better life prospects for all.
FES UK strives to support both people and the economy for a Just Transition in the UK and Germany. We work with political and economic experts, international organisations, and trade unions to develop strategies and provide advice on how the UK and Germany can work together to achieve social justice and sustainability, especially in the aftermath of Brexit. In dialogue formats and publications, we develop approaches on how the EU and UK can successfully work together on climate and social policies. We need to safeguard and strengthen the welfare state, contribute to gender equality, and develop climate-neutral energy systems and industries.
Trade unions are at the forefront of the struggles for a democratic and sustainable world of work. International dialogue, policymaking, and strategising are essential to ensure effective workers’ representation. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung works closely with workers, activists, and officials to promote stronger, more democratic, and more inclusive trade unions. In addition, our work in this area is supported by our Future of Work and Just Climate offices, both of which are located in Brussels and were founded in 2021. FES Future of Work aims to discuss and debate the future of work at the European level, and FES Just Climate focuses on energy, industrial, structural, and labour policies, as well as the European Green Deal.
Gerry Mitchell (April 2021): This paper looks at the impact of COVID-19 on care workers and the people they care for in England. It explains why the care sector was so vulnerable to and ill-equipped for the pandemic and charts the delayed government response to it and how that was further impeded by a lack of integration between health and social care.
It documents trade union campaigning on the health and safety of workers, the lack of or inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE), sick pay, accommodation and access to testing as well as their fight for longer-term reform, emphasising how the immediate problems in the sector are connected to its longer-term systemic issues. These campaigns have also focused on shifting public opinion about the status and value of care work and the need to address structural inequalities.
Unlike the free-at-point-of-use National Health Service (NHS), social care is means-tested in England. With no single national budget, it is commissioned and purchased through local authorities and delivered through a complex system of private, public and voluntary-sector providers as well as professionals and informal carers, with overlapping accountability. Most services are delivered by for-profit companies and the sector is hugely fragmented and disparate, with 18,500 employers across nearly 40,000 establishments.
The pandemic has highlighted long-standing issues with the sector including long-term underfunding and an undervalued, underpaid, low-status workforce exposed to exploitative employment practices and a lack of career progression. Staffing is in crisis with high vacancy rates and high turnover. The sector suffers from market failure, with providers frequently closing down or handing back their contracts to local authorities.
Read the full report here.
Mitchell, Gerry
The experiences of care workers in England / Gerry Mitchell. - [Stockholm] : FES Nordic Countries, 2021. - 18 Seiten = 600 KB, PDF-File. - (Europa)Electronic ed.: Stockholm : FES, 2021
Download publication (600 KB, PDF-File)
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