Labour asks for pay rise for NHS staff

Published on Saturday 21 March 2009 18:34

THE SNP Government was yesterday urged to pay all NHS workers at least £7 per hour – a move that would raise their basic salaries by more than £1,100 per year.

The call was made by the Labour Party, which argued that the move, which would see workers paid more than the 5.72 minimum wage, would boost the economy and could be implemented without cutting frontline services.

The suggestion follows the decision by Steven Purcell, the leader of the Labour-run Glasgow City Council, to become the first Scottish local authority to introduce a minimum wage of 7.

Labour believes the NHS proposal would cost 10m and the cash could be found within 50m of the NHS budget that they claim has been withheld from health boards.

Iain Gray, the Scottish Labour leader, said: "I believe that everyone will benefit from this policy because it can be delivered without taking a single penny from frontline services and putting more money in the pockets of the lowest-paid workers will give a boost to the economy."

Dave Watson, the health union Unison's Scottish organiser, said: "This would be another step forward in Unison's fight for a living wage. It would give a living wage to the final, small groups of low-paid healthcare staff who carry out vital services for us all."

Shadow health secretary Cathy Jamieson said: "If Nicola Sturgeon wanted she could do this tomorrow.

"The financial commitment involved is less than a tenth of 1% of the overall health budget."

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "During just one weekend of their conference Labour announced nearly 100m of extra spending commitments – this would cost millions more, yet their own Labour Government at Westminster is planning to slash Scottish spending by 500m per annum from next year."