The EESC (European & Economic Social Committee) conference in Rome pointed to many shortcomings in Italy's live-in care sector, which is on the rise in the country shown to be the second "oldest" in the world according to recent figures

Despite the high demand for live-in care services, Italy's live-in care sector is still plagued by many irregularities, such as inadequate recognition of social and labour rights of carers, undeclared work and insufficient public spending on care. This was revealed by a meeting held on 16 May by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) at the CNEL in Rome.

Speakers at the meeting in Rome – the third of five EESC country visits that are part of its ongoing consultation procedure on the future of this rapidly growing sector in Europe – said that more than half of the care workers in Italy were not legally employed. Some 75 percent of live-in care work in the country is done by migrant women, many of them coming to Italy from Eastern Europe.

The EESC's "going-local" meetings are a follow-up to its own-initiative opinion on the rights of live-in care workers, adopted in September 2016 as the first policy document at European Union level dealing with the sector of live-in care work in Europe, which has long remained almost invisible to EU and Member State policy-makers.

Their aim is to shine a spotlight on the precarious situation of these workers in Europe's labour markets, but also on many uncertainties faced by care recipients who often recruit carers through informal networks or the internet.

The meetings are organised by the EESC Member and rapporteur of the opinion, Adam Rogalewski, who advocates the regularisation and professionalisation of the live-in care sector and the inclusion of live-in care workers in the long-term care system, with all the rights arising from relevant EU and Member State employment regulations.

The Rome meeting follows the one held in Berlin this March and the one held in London last November. Two more are planned for Poland and Sweden, representing some of the countries of origin and destination of live-in care workers.

The situation in Italy is often described as a telling example, with a growing number of domestic workers in the rapidly ageing Italian society and a welfare system which is unable to meet the increased demand for care, forcing families to almost exclusively bear the burden of care costs.

At the same time, Italy's care workers – both foreign and Italian – share the fate of their European counterparts who work in difficult conditions, often with an unregulated employment status.

"Live-in care work entails a series of difficulties for carers. Most of them are migrant women and it is very difficult for them to reconcile work and private life. They live in solitude, far away from their loved ones, facing language barriers and having difficulties integrating into society", Dr Luciana Mastrocola from CGIL, Italy's largest trade union federation, told the conference.

She also pointed to the fact that neither foreign nor Italian carers in Italy enjoyed full protection of social rights, unlike most workers in other sectors, and that social recognition of their work was missing, despite the fact that it has today become indispensable, compensating for the shortcomings of the Italian care and welfare systems.

"The Italian government did not start implementing sustainable policies early enough. If we wish to keep meeting our demands for care, we must recognise the rights of these workers", Dr Mastrocola said.

Many live-in carers in Italy have no documents, and, while families want to "legalise" these workers, the authorities are not willing to do so, said Sara Gomez, a live-in care worker and a member of CGIL. She stressed that people working in the sector were very isolated but, thanks to the efforts made by CGIL, a considerable number of them had now become unionised.

Italy introduced its first law on paid domestic work in 1958, its first special collective agreement in 1974 and ratified the ILO's Convention 189 in 2013. The same year saw the signing of the collective agreement on domestic work between Italian trade unions and employer associations.

In her keynote speech at the meeting, Professor Sabrina Marchetti from the Ca' Foscari University of Venice highlighted the strong need for inclusive measures for non-EU migrants and called for the "Italian collective agreement to be adapted to the requirements of the ILO Convention 189, particularly in regard to the maternity rights and sick leave of all care workers."

She maintained that the Italian situation was different to other countries and affirmed that neither employment through agencies nor self-employment status were a suitable strategy for delivering live-in care.

Dimo Barlaan from the disability advocacy organisation "FISH onlus" called for the current situation of a 54 hour work week to be addressed through collective agreements for live-in care workers by creating part-time working arrangements.

Andrea Zini, vice president of the home care employers' association Assindatcolf and of the European Federation of Domestic Workers (EFFE) put the number of legally employed care workers in Italy at 900 000, whereas as many as 1 250 000 million were in irregular employment.

According to Italy's National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), Italy is the second "oldest" country in the world, which means the demand for assistance and care can only grow, Mr Zini said.

"For this reason we are convinced that family, work and housing can be crucial factors for the revival of both the Italian and the European economy. But for this to happen, the government must become aware of this, because now the burden, including the economic burden, is entirely borne by employer families. If we could fully deduct the cost of domestic work, we would create a "virtuous" circle: more jobs and less irregular work, more professionalism and better well-being for families", he said.

Mr Zini called for the professionalisation of domestic care work and for the creation of a European database for the sector, for the implementation of training and certification systems, and for the coordination of supply and demand at the European level.

The EESC Member Pietro Vittorio Barbieri stressed that it was impossible to achieve the transition from undeclared to declared work without addressing the issue of insufficient public spending in the sector. "Families are under strain. It is about time the government did more regarding demographic change which is a threat to Italy", he said.

Another EESC Member, Pietro Francesco De Lotto, insisted on the role of national and local bilateral collective bargaining and on the need to increase tax deductions to families hiring live-in care workers. "We also need to invest more in training to upskill the existing workforce," he added.

Concluding the meeting, Mr Rogalewski urged all stakeholders to implement Principle 18 of the European Pillar of Social Rights on long-term care before it is too late. According to Principle 18, "everyone has the right to affordable long-term care services of good quality".

BACKGROUND:

The EESC opinion adopted in 2016 presented eight recommendations for Member States and 12 recommendations for EU legislators to improve the overall capacity of the sector to create quality jobs and deliver quality care. They include implementing processes for recognising qualifications and experience acquired by live-in care workers, improving the way they are posted and incorporating their rights into the European semester. A rigorous application of the Victims' Rights Directive in cases where workers are victims of exploitation, and the improvement of safeguards in the Employers' Sanctions Directive to protect labour rights of undocumented workers should also be high on the agenda. It is also necessary to collect adequate data on live-in care workers and carry out research into their working and living conditions.

ABC Note: The findings of the EESC country visits will be presented in a report which will be published later in 2018.

As US workers approach retirement, they might wonder how their retirement savings will be paid out. Among private industry workers in defined contribution plans in 2017, most participated in savings and thrift plans (73 percent).

Other common plan types include deferred profit sharing (25 percent) and money purchase pensions (18 percent).

A lump sum was the most common payment option available to workers in these plans.

The Colchester Assembly have booked 55-seater bus to the NHS 70th Birthday Rally in London on Saturday June 30th, picking in Clacton & Colchester.

The Colchester Assembly say they expect this will be a massive demonstration of support for our NHS and we agree. A quarter of the seats have already been reserved if you would like to join in please book your seat by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tickets £10 waged £5 unwaged. Unite/unite community members FREE thanks to a generous donation from Unite Union.

Details 

Bus departs: 

Clacton Railway station @ 9.30am

Colchester outside old Odeon on Crouch Street @ 10.00am

Returns from London 4.00/4.30pm

The ESRC-funded Welfare conditionality: sanctions, support and behaviour change project is pleased to announce a major international conference on welfare conditionality. The conference will be of interest to a broad range of academics, policymakers and practitioners with interests in welfare conditionality and its role as part of wider ongoing welfare state reforms.

Bookings are now open. Closing date 11 June. Please click on the banner:

Welfare Conditionality: Principles, Practices and Perspectives

26 – 28 June 2018 Ron Cooke Hub, University of York

Welfare Conditionality Project

University of York

Department of Social Policy and Social Work

York 

YO10 5DD

United Kingdom

The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, British Psychoanalytic Council, British Psychological Society and UK Council for Psychotherapy between them represent more than 110,000 psychologists, counsellors, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and psychiatrists who practise psychotherapy and counselling.

In a joint response to the recent report of the WelCond project, the organisations say:

“Our key concerns remain that not only is there no clear evidence that welfare sanctions are effective, but that they can have negative effects on a range of outcomes including mental health.

“We continue to call on the Government to address these concerns, investigate how the jobcentre systems and requirements may themselves be exacerbating mental health problems and consider suspending the use of sanctions subject to the outcomes of an independent review.”

The organisations reaffirmed the clear position against welfare sanctions that they took in a 2016 joint response.

Image: Dr Lisa Morrison Coulthard the British Psychological Society’s acting director. 

Dr Lisa Morrison Coulthard the British Psychological Society’s acting director of policy said:

“We are delighted to sign this joint statement. The Society has seen increasing evidence that benefit sanctions undermine people’s health and wellbeing, and that people with multiple and complex needs are disproportionately subject to them.”

The American economy went into overdrive last month, the Labor Department reported Friday, extending the longest streak of job growth on record and echoing other recent signs of strength.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in May, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent. Employment continued to trend up in several industries, including retail trade, health care, and construction.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent, its lowest level since the heady days of the dot-com boom in early 2000.

The net increase of 223,000 jobs reflected healthy gains in a broad range of industries, from manufacturing and transportation to health care and retailing.

It was the 92nd consecutive month of job creation. Most economists expect the momentum to continue, but a deeper drop in the unemployment rate or a big bump up in average hourly earnings would stoke fears of inflation and, in turn, a more hawkish Federal Reserve.

President Trump was of course delighted.

Image: US Job Figures bring cheer to Donald Trumps administration.

The US Rate of unemployment

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey 

Unemployment Rate: 3.8% in May 2018

Series Id:                             LNS14000000

Seasonally Adjusted

Series title:                         (Seas) Unemployment Rate

Labor force status:               Unemployment rate

Type of data:                       Percent or rate

Age:                                    16 years and over

Countless reports and research point to growing intergenerational inequality in Australia: housing prices are unaffordable for most young Australian; higher education is costing more and more; young people are experiencing discrimination and exploitation in paid work and in internships; and now big business are getting tax cuts while younger Australians continue to struggle. So what can Millennials and younger generations do to fight back against economic inequality and social injustice?

Hear from six leading young Australians share their progressive policy ideas for the next generation.

SPEAKERS:

• Eamon Waterford - Evatt Foundation
• Dean Parkin - Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity
• Neha Madhok - Digital Director, Democracy in Colour
• Nicole Wesson - Good Society Policy Network

More speakers TBC

Free entry for Fabians members, $5 for others (includes a bar tab).

When?      

June 28, 2018 at 6pm – 8pm

Where            

The Loft at the University of Technology (UTS)

15 Broadway

Ultimo, NSW 2007

Australia

Image: The Loft, at the University of Technology (UTS)

The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, T.D., together with the Minister of State with special responsibility for Disabilities, Finian McGrath, T.D., today (1st of June 2018) announced funding of €16 million for 27 projects* to deliver a new pre-activation Programme for young people with disabilities, called “Ability”.  

The Ability Programme will provide supports to over 2,600 young people with disabilities aged between 15 to 29 years old.

The focus of the Programme is on projects aimed at young people with disabilities and is designed to assist in their transition from school to further education, training and employment. The Programme will promote employment prospects and meaningful social roles for young people with disabilities and in particular, young people who are distant from the labour market, using a range of person-centered supports.

This announcement brings to fruition the results of a long-period of planning, consultation and assessment for the Department and its partner Pobal.

Image: Minister of State with special responsibility for Disabilities, Finian McGrath.

Initially it was expected that funding for the programme would amount to some €10 million over a three year period. However, given the quality of the proposals received by Pobal, funding has been put in place of €16 million to support all 27 projects recommended by Pobal.

Speaking at the announcement, Minister Doherty said, “The funding being made available, through the Ability programme, seeks to directly address the barriers faced by young people with disabilities.  The programme seeks to support young people with disabilities, who are able to, and want to work, to navigate their individual transition period into employment and I welcome the roll out of the services to be provided by the various organisations over the next three years.”

Also speaking at the announcement, Minister McGrath said, “In announcing the funding of these 27 projects the Government is delivering on commitments within the Comprehensive Employments Strategy for People with Disabilities (2015 – 2024), particularly under action point 5.1 which seeks to provide a comprehensive programme of employment supports to assist people with disabilities to find and retain work, regardless of the level of their support need.

“For all of us a key period in life is that transition period between school and education or employment, as we seek to follow our own individual career paths.  This transition period, as we know, can be difficult for people with disabilities.  In putting in place this new ‘Ability’ programme, through these 27 projects, the Government is providing a pre-activation structure that is designed to support young people with disabilities through their own individual transition period, in order to achieve their own employment ambitions.”
The Ability Programme is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020.

ABC Note:

Census 2016 figures show that the employment rate for people with disabilities of working age is 36.5% compared to a rate of 72.8% for people of working age without a disability.
In addition to the Ability Programme, the Department provides a wide range of supports for people with a disability, these include:

• * Services provided through all of the Department’s Intreo centres.
• * The EmployAbility Service which is delivered, under contract arrangement, on behalf of the Department by 23 companies operating across the country.
• * The Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) which has been designed to increase the likelihood of people with disabilities participating in the open labour market by providing financial incentives to private sector employers.
• * The Reasonable Accommodation Fund that assists employers to take appropriate measures to enable a person with a disability/impairment to have access to employment by providing a range of grants. These grants and supports include a Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant, a Personal Reader Grant, a Job Interview Interpreter Grant and a Employee Retention Grant.

Who are the target groups?

The focus of the programme is on projects aimed at young people with disabilities (aged 15 – 29) designed to assist in their transition from school to further education and employment.

What are the objectives of the programme?

• * To bring young people with disabilities who are not work-ready closer to the labour market using a range of person-centred supports.
• * To assist young people with disabilities to develop life-skills required to participate in education, training and employment.
• * To assist young people with disabilities at key transition points between education, training and employment.
• * To support young people with disabilities who are not in education, employment or training to access and participate in education, training and employment.
• * To build the capacity of mainstream employment services, education and training providers to support the progression of young people with disabilities.
• * To build the capacity of employers to recruit and retain young people with disabilities within their workforce.

How much funding is being made available to projects? 

The minimum grant is €200,000 while the maximum grant will be for €750,000 over the funding period.

What Organisations/Projects are to be funded?

Fancy joining the emergency service? 

For the first time, Kent's emergency organisations are teaming up to launch a recruitment drive highlighting a wide variety of roles across the blue light services. An event will be held on Wednesday, 6 June, at the Road Safety Experience, 6pm-9pm.

Emergency services work together on a daily basis to save lives and keep people safe within their communities.

But for the first time, they’re teaming up to launch a recruitment drive highlighting a wide variety of roles across the blue light services.

On Wednesday, 6 June, Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS), Kent Police and South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) will hold a recruitment event at the Road Safety Experience in Marconi Way, Rochester, from 6pm to 9pm.

Anyone interested in finding out about careers in the emergency services is welcome to come along and speak to firefighters, police officers and paramedics about what it’s like to be on the front line, and also find out about wider support roles.  

While it’s a drop in event, presentations from each service will take place at 7pm and 8pm, which will provide a more in-depth look at each organisation.

“There is a wealth of information on the website with regards to opportunities."

Image:  Road Safety Experience,Marconi Way, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2XQ. 

ABC Note: “If you have good communication and listening skills and are committed to delivering compassionate care to your local community, these services are really keen to hear from you.  You can find out more about the vacancies that are on offer by visiting: nhs jobs.”

The ABC is working on a future film project. This week we visited Cambridge TV  a leading production company based in Cambridge, UK. The Company produces intelligent films, involving content using their strong relationships with leaders in science and business. Their programmes are aimed at the national broadcasters, as well as local television and online video channels

Cambridge TV also runs a film school for those interested in working in the film industry or who just want to learn a new skill.

The TV School offers a totally unique path into the TV and film industries. The team supply training and support through multiple courses to cover every aspect of factual TV production.

Carl and Bob have worked with many people starting their careers in either a single technical skill or all areas of production and they believe that today’s TV and online filmmaking careers require storytellers who are experienced and skilled in the main specific job roles of production.

Participants make programmes for TV and online broadcast, to industry standards, coached by working TV professionals. They have the chance to develop TV production skills to a very high level, develop a network of peers and professional mentors, and take away a large portfolio of broadcast work to show their next employer.

Image: Carl Homer                                                            Image: Bob Coates

If you are a graduate and want to home your skills, or if you are thinking of entering the industry from scratch, Carl Homer and Bob Coates are the two directors you need to talk to. Brilliant film makers with a great sense of humanity. Just what you need if you tell stories in film about real people and their lives. 

Please click on the image below to visit their main website. 

Image: Cambridge TV have two studios including a green room.  

ABC Note: This is a film about homelessness from Cambridge TV. The film school films are made by students under professional direction.