Salford care workers to strike over claims of mistreatment and pay problems

Staff at a care firm in Salford have voted to strike after claims of mistreatment and problems with being paid.

Unison members at Pemberton Fold and Heartly Green care homes voted unanimously for strike action in August, after staff claimed they were missing payments from their salaries for mandatory training.

The trade union said Bradford-based Park Homes, the company which runs the care homes, "refused to acknowledge" talks about salaries in March, leaving its members feeling "angry" over how they were treated.

READ MORE: Salford council spends £20m a year outsourcing road works

Park Homes admitted there was a "long-term" issue with training pay which they say existed before the company took over running the care homes, and is an issue that is being resolved.

It added that it has been speaking to its workers about pay rates for "some time."

The company, which runs a number of care homes in England and Scotland, made a net profit of more than £4.6 million over the last two years according to its latest financial statement.

The Manchester Evening News (M.E.N) understands a date for strike action has not yet been set by Unison members.

A team leader working for Park Homes, who wanted to stay anonymous, told the M.E.N that staff were getting "no support" from managers and that morale was "extremely low."

They claimed workers had suffered abuse and mistreatment by the company.

"There's immense stress on the workers. People have been sworn at in meetings with managers, I can't do this anymore," they said.

"People are owed money from mandatory training which they haven’t been paid for. We are understaffed, there have been times when I have been responsible for entire homes of residents and staff on my own."

Park Homes said