For the first time in Scottish history, workers at private care homes have begun strike action.
GMB members at Cardonald, Ballieston and Stobhill Care Homes began two days of strikes on Tuesday, with 'respectful' picket lines forming outside each of the homes, with the union saying staff "strove to minimise disruption to residents".
Minster Care Group is accused of having failed to protect pay and conditions, and also of of trying to derecognise the trade union.
Kirsty Nimmo, GMB Scotland organiser, said: “Staff at these homes do not want to be standing outside fighting to protect their pay and conditions.
“They want to be inside caring for the residents like they do every day of their working lives but the actions of the homes’ owners have forced them into this unprecedented industrial action.
Read More: Police Scotland say they 'won't investigate some crimes' due to cuts
“We tried to resolve this dispute again and again but the company has never been serious about engaging with their staff and clearly had no intention of making a serious offer to avert this strike.
“Our hearts are with the residents and their families but our members must also think about their own families.
“All they are asking for is fairness. All they want is to be treated with decency and respect.”
First Minister Humza Yousaf had previously expressed his intention to write to Minster chief executive Mahesh Patel urging a resolution.
He said in a press statement: "Social care workers provide a vital service. Their work providing personal care and social support to residents is essential to the running of care homes that are rooted in compassion.
"My own relationship with trade unions has been positive and constructive.
“Even where there have been disagreements, my approach has been to always continue constructive dialogue to try and find a solution.
“I hope you can offer reassurances that this will be your approach going forward.”
Silverline said in a statement: "Silverline had met with the GMB with a view to agreeing terms that were realistic within the context of the homes' trading position, but the discussions ended in stalemate.
"Staff received a pay rise in line with the terms of the National Care Contracts and local market rates and the company was still open to having discussions with a view to reaching a sensible solution.
"Measures will be put in place to ensure the continuation of quality care at each of the three homes."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here