Programme For Government Reaction: Care Review “Welcome” But “Scepticism” On Green Jobs Promises
Programme For Government Reaction: Care Review “Welcome” But “Scepticism” On Green Jobs Promises
Responding to the First Minister’s “Programme for Government” announcement this afternoon (Tuesday 1 September), GMB Scotland Secretary Gary Smith said:
“The comprehensive independent review of adult social care, challenged with setting out a national care service, is a welcome and necessary step forward. The starting point must be ending the chronic exploitation of care workers and a commitment to deliver a £15 an hour social care minimum.
“There is also a pressing need to recognise and reward our key workers for everything they have done for all of us. In the NHS and councils, the COVID response has been largely delivered on the backs of the lowest paid. They need a clear demonstration that after a decade of cuts they will be valued properly.
“But promises of a green recovery should be met with scepticism. A decade on from the “Saudi Arabia of renewables” and a promise of 28,000 jobs in offshore wind, our renewables supply chain yards in Argyll, Fife and Lewis lie empty while hope dies for the communities that depend on them.
“You cannot make promises to young people about jobs and recovery if we don’t have the industries to support it or the credible means to deliver it, while the rest of the world commands the lion’s share of manufacturing work from our own billion pound renewables projects.
“We await the further details on proposals for green jobs and economic recovery with interest - but it sounds like déjà vu all over again.”
ENDS
Contact: GMB Scotland Communications on 07976 447077.
