Nhs Workers Demand 3.9% Pay Rise

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41274088

These workers have seen their pay drop by 15% since 2010, and this rise is only 1% in real terms, as inflation is now 2.9%.

If Police and Prison Officers deserve their recently announced pay rise, and they do, without doubt, then NHS Staff do as well

Discuss.!

[fiction-factory]

The article says they are asking for more than 3.9%- it says they are asking for 3.9% PLUS £800 a year to catch up for what they claim to have lost in recent years. (I guess the £800 figure doesn't take account of all the annual service increments that at least 50% of them will have got too. ). Pay has fallen although many in the private sector have not had a pay increase for several years and have seen their dfinal/average salary pension schemes closed completely. I'm sure the best performers deserve more though in the public sector

[fiction-factory]

I'm off now Mikey. Good luck with this. I don't think these threads ever change anyone's mind one bit on these sort of issues but it's interesting to see different views

[mikey4444]

FF...We are all entitled to our views, but I would be very interested in why people think that NHS Staff should continue to have pay cuts for the 8th year running.

[albaqwerty]

what they demand and what they get are 2 different things.

Do public sector workers deserve a decent wage? Yes.

Mr Alba works in the construction industry and hasn't seen an increase in 'real terms' for the past 20 years.

[ummmm]

Really Albs? That's shocking.

[Tilly2]

I don't think that anyone is going to say NHS staff don't deserve a pay rise, Mikey.

[fiction-factory]

It's not just about what people deserve though mikey- it's about what employers can afford. This government made its policy clear about keeping down public sector payroll costs as part of the deficit reduction programme and won another election

[mikey4444]

Yes, Alba.....not good news.

But perhaps we should put this modest pay rise for NHS Staff into some kind of relevance. In 2015, Parliament awarded themselves a huge pay rise, for £67,060 to £74,000 ::::

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaries_of_Members_of_the_United_Kingdom_Parliament

[fiction-factory]

They didn't award it to themselves, Mikey in that it was set by an independent body. But I would agree that it seems wrong that the public sector pay cap doesn't apply to MPs. I wonder if JC takes his increase?

[mikey4444]

Tilly....no, I don't expect there will be, but I am waiting for the weasel words.

FF....100% correct, but I wonder how many NHS Staff voted Tory in 2010, 2015, and again in 2017 ?

Turkeys are not normally known for being enthusiastic about voting for Xmas.

[Islay]

Yes Mikey but who is to say they deserve more of a payrise than other civil servants?

[Deskdiary]

"But perhaps we should put this modest pay rise for NHS Staff into some kind of relevance. In 2015, Parliament awarded themselves a huge pay rise, for £67,060 to £74,000"

I was waiting for this nonsense argument to rear its head, again, so am not disappointed.

Ignoring the fact that in my view our MPs are still underpaid, the fact of the matter is there are 'just' 650 of them - compared to tens of thousands of NHS workers.

Paying 650 MPs a few extra grand a year is a drop in the ocean when we're talking about 3.9% + £800 a year to catch-up for NHS workers.

It is an absurd comparison.

Incidentally, I wonder how many Labours MPs refused the payrise that was awarded to them by an independent body?

[mikey4444]

Islay....that is the debate that we need to have.

In a country that has seen pay cuts for NHS Staff for the last 7 years, at what point in the future do we think that the decline should stop ?

That is the question that I am asking.

[albaqwerty]

I hope we're all agreed that people deserve a decent wage.
However, what constitutes a 'decent wage'?

The national minimum wage would have put a burden on employers, meaning the prices of their goods would have had to increase so they could afford to pay their workers the NMW.
Prices increase, and that means folk wouldn't see any benefit in being paid the NMW surely?

I could go on, but won't you'll be glad to know :-D

[mikey4444]

DD....nothing whatsoever absurd about the comparison at all. Large pay increases for some....savage pay cuts for others.....that is the debate.

But what about the point of this thread ?

Do you think that NHS Staff are entitled to a pay rise this year, or do you think that should experience an 8th year of pay cuts ?

Yes or no ?

[Jackdaw33]

"I don't think that anyone is going to say NHS staff don't deserve a pay rise"

I do. In fact judging by my very recent experience in hospital they deserve a pay cut. I have never spent a more miserable five weeks at the hands of these bullies than in the rest of my life. Angels my arris.

[Islay]

Well Mikey if the NHS get 3.5% plus 800 extra then sure as hell I want that too, no payrise for 8 years and I earn considerably less than I did 10 years ago

[mikey4444]

Islay....yes, me too, but I wouldn't let that stand in the way of a proper pay rise for NHS Staff.

[Prudie]

I'm happy to be shot down but my perception is NHS workers have done considerably better in pay rises than other civil service workers, in fact I thought nurses were much better paid than their equivalent grades in the public sector, many of whom work just as hard so 3.9% I find over the top in current climate.

[mikey4444]

Prudie....I wouldn't dream of shooting you down !

Nurses have had below inflation pay rises since 2010, which effectively means pay cuts. If this pay claim goes through, unlikely I know, but they will then have a real term rise this year of just 1%.....hardly a fortune.