Hundreds of carers marched from Edinburgh Castle to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 23rd April in what was described as "Scotland’s first ever public protest march organised by carers."
"We aim to end the injustices of the benefit system" declared the carers. The protest also opposed the Edinburgh Council's re-tendering process of home-care services to 700 vulnerable people, which could lead to specialist voluntary organisations being replaced by profit-motivated private companies.
Outside the Parliament many carers from all round Scotland spoke about the difficulties they faced caring for their loved ones while living in poverty. One carer from Dundee pointed out that while politicians were always saying there was no money available, billions were found to wage war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Another, pointing to the Parliament, asked: "Why don't these people in there take a paycut?"
Carers and those they care for, listening to a fellow-carer outside the Scottish Parliament
The carers organising the protest state:
" We aim to end the injustices of the benefit system perpetrated on a band of very hard working people, who not only underpin the NHS and social services, but save the taxpayer billions, whilst barely making ends meet themselves.
Carers find themselves eligible for services to help them to cope with a 24/7 caring life, but they and their eligible carees don't get them as there are no services available due to cutbacks.
Carers are people who give up their hopes, their dreams, their lives, because something happens to one whom they love. It happened to us, it can happen to you, it only takes a moment in time to become a carer.
Carers get £52 per week ............... could you live on that? But many Carers are ineligible for support - such as students and carers aged over 65.
Many Carers are on call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year.................could you live like that?"
Called for budget day, a simultaneous protest was taking place in London at Trafalgar Square.
FALLING INTO POVERTY
Vocal, "the Voice of Carers across Lothian" state:
"New evidence, published on Carers Rights’ Day in December 2008, shows that carers are falling into poverty faster than other groups. The alarming statistics reveal 73% of carers in fuel poverty and over half in debt and cutting back on essentials like food or heating to make ends meet.
Nine in ten (88%) of carers say their financial position is worse than 12 months ago, although they continue to provide vital support and make a contribution worth £7.6 billion a year to the Scottish economy."
TENDERING THREATENS SERVICES
Edinburgh City Council's re-tendering process of home-care services could see up to 40 organisations that provide intimate and specialist care for the disabled lose their contracts. These would then be passed to other organisations with no experience of the person they are caring for, very possibly private companies paying minimum wages to untrained staff.
At a recent highly-charged meeting at the City Chambers, 250 disabled people, their families, carers and lobbyists crammed in to discuss the implications of the re-tendering, which could be decided by the summer and implemented by the end of the year, unless the Council are stopped. Almost everyone who spoke at the event was opposed to the tendering policy.
Several spoke of how they had been dealt with by the same carer for years on end, and the prospect of change was extremely upsetting. There was also dismay at the absence of any council representatives at the meeting.
"Tendering? It should be our choice!!!!"
DON'T PUT UP WITH IT!
A member of Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty attending the Carers' protest at the Parliament said: " Everyone should give solidarity to the carers - the government and Edinburgh Council shouldn't get away with this. It's no use relying on politicians - we need to get organised and take direct action.
Carers do socially invaluable work and get paid a pittance. Meanwhile bank bosses do socially useless work and get paid millions. Capitalism is crazy - why shouldn't the world's resources be shared co-operatively amongst us all?"
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Carers' protest site
http://www.paperclip.org.uk/carers/carers_poverty_protest.htm
Vocal
http://www.vocal.org.uk/index.htm
Edinburgh Evening News article on the background to the protest
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Carers-find-their-voice-in....
More photos of protest at
http://www.indymediascotland.org/node/15384
