Applauded ‘nightingales’ voicing discontent. Exploring labour unrest in health and social care in Europe before and since the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This short, data-driven article examines and reports upon dynamics and patterns of labour unrest in health and social care (hereafter: ‘care’) in Europe, before and since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to answer the following questions. How did labour unrest in care develop before the pandemic, since the early 2000s? What kind of collective action repertoires do care workers have? What are their grievances and demands? And what has been the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour unrest and the issue agenda? The main argument developed is that labour unrest in care is not novel and that mobilising, strike action and other forms of labour unrest have generally continued since the pandemic arrived. Furthermore, they will also feature in the postpandemic era.