Home carers report shows Welsh Lib Dems were right on zero-hours contracts
A Welsh Government report showing that the uncertainty of zero-hours contracts creates poor working conditions within the home care sector shows the Welsh Liberal Democrats were right to try and ban them, the party has said.
The report, commissioned by Labour Ministers, finds that “[m]ost care workers were unhappy with the insecurity zero hours contracts created” despite arguments that care workers favour these contracts.
During the passage of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, Labour and the Conservatives voted against the Welsh Lib Dem policy to ban zero-hours contracts in the social care sector – plans proposed for this very reason.
Kirsty Williams AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said:
“Labour Ministers are now conidering banning zero-hours contracts in the social care sector, but it begs the question of why they vote to ban them when they had the chance two years ago?
“All the reasons that this report has ‘unveiled’ existed when the Assembly debated banning them in 2014, yet Labour chose to ignore what the Welsh Lib Dems were telling them. I can’t help but think how much happier care workers would be now if Labour had listened.”
