A new global agreement on decent work in the care economy

The conclusions also call on Governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations to take specific actions, including to:

• Design and implement integrated care policies and systems for decent work and gender equality

• Mainstream care across public policy – including employment, skills, economy, social and labour protection, migration and environmental policies

• Prevent and address violence and discrimination against care workers, especially women, migrant workers and those from racialised groups.

• Ensure adequate minimum wages, whether statutory or negotiated.

Finally, the International Labour Office was tasked with developing and implementing a plan of action to guide the ILO’s work on decent work and the care economy in the coming years. This will include research on gaps and best practice in care policies and other initiatives; ramping up policy and technical support to further decent work in the care economy; and developing international statistical standards for paid and unpaid care work.

What is missing?

Despite these important wins several workers’ group demands did not make it into the final outcomes in the face of strong and coordinated opposition from employers and some governments.

Calls for recognition of care as a public good were not successful.

Neither did we win strong enough commitments to protections for migrant care workers. This is a critical gap, notably here in the UK given the critical role of international recruits in tackling the near-record high vacancy rate in social care and the prevalent exploitation of migrant workers in the sector.

And despite strong opposition from the global labour movement, an employer-backed call for private-public partnerships as a means of scaling-up care services was included in the final outcome document.

Next steps

The TUC will draw on this new international agreement in our work with the next UK government following the general election in a few weeks’ time.  While the outcomes are not binding on governments or employers, this recent global tripartite consensus is a useful tool to reinforce our long-standing proposals around what is needed to make sure care work is decent work.

The Labour party’s manifesto commitments to establishing a collectively bargained Fair Pay Agreement in social care and National Care Service are important steps in the right direction. A top priority for us will be working alongside our affiliated unions and a future Labour government to turn these pledges into reality.  

Unions, reps and members can also cite the agreement to bolster their asks of employers and policymakers across the care economy.

We will also look for opportunities to build on and strengthen the global care policy framework. And we will continue our work with the global labour movement to build worker power and secure decent work for all care workers.