CARE workers from South Wales will tell Britain’s Low Pay Commission today that a national care service in Wales and England is needed along with a wage of £15 per hour.

Unison Cymru/Wales social care members are meeting independent advisers to the British government on the national minimum wage in Cardiff.

The union is campaigning for a national care service in Wales and England.

The commissioners will use the evidence to help negotiate and agree rates for the national minimum wage.

Care worker Sian Stockham from Abergavenny said: “Social care is in crisis and people like me who deliver desperately needed services are trapped in in-work poverty. I’m past retirement age, but I can’t afford to pack it in.”

Unison Cymru/Wales regional secretary Jess Turner said: “The system of care in Wales is failing thousands of mostly female staff and their families.

“Creating a national care service is the best way to overhaul a system on its knees. Key to that is looking after the welfare of the workers.

“Simply put, it is wrong to profit from people’s care.”