Workers shared their frontline experiences and adopted a 15-points resolution calling for safe staffing, fair pay, stronger protections and guaranteed public investment in care.
Photo: EPSU
At the first Care Workers’ Parliament in the European Parliament, care workers from all over Europe gathered to share their experiences and adopt a 15-point resolution. They demand secure staffing levels, fair wages, a better working environment and long-term public funding of the care sector. The event was organised by EPSU, European Public Service Union with the support of Members of parliament, MEPs, and representatives from the European Commission and the International Labour Organization, ILO.
Workers warn that staff shortages will worsen as the need for long-term care increases sharply by 2050. The resolution calls on the EU and the Member States to protect investment in care, legislate on safe staffing, address psychosocial and physical occupational health and safety risks, strengthen gender equality and limit excessive commercialisation.
Several representatives emphasized that Europe cannot solve the staff shortage without real investments in the form of better conditions, collective agreements and safe working environments. The meeting also included discussions with EU politicians, the Commission and the ILO on the future of the care sector.
“Care workers have brought facts, solutions and a united voice to the European Parliament today,” said Jan Willem Goudriaan, EPSU General Secretary. “Now policymakers must do their part. Europe will not fix staffing crises or waiting lists with slogans and applause; we need long-term public investment, safe staffing and real wage growth backed by collective bargaining.”
“No workers, no care,” said Barbro Andersson, (Kommunal, Sweden) EPSU Vice-President and Co-chair of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Social Services. “We carried Europe through the pandemic, but too many are leaving because wages are low and workloads are unsafe. Respect means investment, staffing guarantees and protection from violence – so carers can stay, and people get the dignity they deserve.”
Here you can read a blog, written by Harri Järvelin, Vice president of the Finnish Union of Practical Nurses, SuPer: Without carers, there is no health and well-being
Hanna Östeby, Practical Nurse and a member of the The Swedish Union Kommunal, read out her own written testimony: