Hundreds of nurses in pay demand demonstrations across Scotland

Hundreds of nurses across Scotland demanded fair pay at demonstrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh yesterday.
NHS workers demonstrate in Glasgow Green. Picture: PANHS workers demonstrate in Glasgow Green. Picture: PA
NHS workers demonstrate in Glasgow Green. Picture: PA

The “NHS Workers say No!” event at Glasgow Green was one of dozens planned across the country in response to a UK Government pay rise announcement which campaigners say excludes “a massive number of healthcare workers”.

NHS medical and dental workers, GPs and general dental practitioners in Scotland will receive a 2.8 per cent pay rise, backdated to 1 April.

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However, nurses and junior doctors were not included because they agreed a separate three-year deal in 2018.

It came after the UK government announced almost 900,000 public sector workers will get rises of up to 3.1 per cent.

The Scottish government said nurses received a 2.95 per cent pay increase this year and it is now working with NHS unions to agree on next year’s pay deal. But health and social care workers said they deserve equal pay in relation to other sectors.

Signs at the Glasgow protest read “Enough empty praise, geez a fair raise”, “Covid hero pay rise zero”, and “Who saved you Boris?”.

Nurses also paid silent tribute during the Glasgow event to remember colleagues lost during the coronavirus pandemic. More than 500 health workers have died so far following exposure to coronavirus.

Melanie Gale, a senior charge nurse who ran a Covid-positive ward with an “under-staffed hard-working team”, helped organise the event.

She said: “In the middle of a pandemic our NHS workers stand on that front line and give their all.

“We’re here to say we have had enough, we deserve our equal pay. It’s ten years of not being given a proper pay increase for the jobs we do.

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Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon called for the Scottish government to begin pay talks with workers sooner. She said: “You should be getting paid a fair pay for the job that you do, the job that you’re trained to do, your expertise and your skills – not just a pat on the back or a clap on the doorstep every week.

“We know in the months ahead we’re going to have a very difficult winter on our hands. Aside from Covid pressures there’s all the other pressures that are on the NHS.”

Thousands of NHS workers took to the streets in towns and cities across the UK demanding a pay rise. More than 35 demonstrations were organised – including in Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield.

Unite national officer for health Jackie Williams said: “In a decade of Tory austerity, NHS staff has seen their pay cut by 20 per cent in real terms – and no amount of Thursday evening clapping and warm ministerial words can compensate for this dramatic loss in income.”

A recent survey by Unison suggested more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of people think all NHS employees should be awarded a rise this year.

Rebecca Edwards, 32, a trainee district nurse in Edinburgh, said. “Nurses are incredibly skilled, it’s a degree-only profession. During the pandemic we have this immense risk and responsibility. It’s frightening every day to be putting your life on the line, but I care about my patients and can’t imagine doing anything else. So to see others get a pay rise in the public sector while we are told, tough cookie, shows the lack of respect for what we do. I love my job, work extremely hard and study full-time as well. But I often end up living in my overdraft and with the help of the bank of Dad. I think it comes down to the fact that we are in a predominantly female workforce. The inequality is obvious.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “This year nurses in Scotland received a 2.95 per cent pay rise as part of our three-year NHS Agenda for Change pay deal. This has meant a minimum 9 per cent pay increase for most staff, and with some of those still moving up their pay scale seeing increases of up to 27 per cent. This is in excess of the 2.8 per cent uplift announced for NHS dentists and doctors in England and Scotland.

“We have regular engagement with staff and unions, where all issues related to NHS staff terms and conditions are discussed. As we are now in the last year of the three-ear deal, we are working with NHS unions to agree a timetable to secure a new pay deal for 2021-22.”

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