Book review: The Politics of Social Inclusion and Labor Representation: Immigrants and Trade Unions in the European Context

Abstract

tightening. The example is cited of a pay equity claim in New Zealand that resulted in a new pay structure, raising hourly wages by 15–50 per cent. The state’s failure to fund implementation, however, led to reduced hours, increased workloads and jeopardised care quality. The study also has little to say about the restructuring of care and concentration of ownership in the industry, with the rise of large private-equity for-profit operators. These structural changes not only point to the need for transnational action and campaigns to improve working conditions, but also signal that different strategies may be required to improve pay and working conditions: the balance between political lobbying, legislation and achieving collective agreements should be varied in accordance with the ownership and regulatory structures of elder care. This report provides a very welcome and wide-ranging systematic review of the deep-seated challenges facing long-term care. The urgent task facing policy-makers and providers is to move from analysis to policy implementation, framing solutions that will reboot elder care to provide dignity for ageing populations and fair care work for those providing this essential public service.