FOURTEEN NHS unions submitted a pay claim directly to the May government on behalf of more than one million NHS workers across the UK.
In a letter to the chancellor, 14 health unions including Unison, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Unite and the GMB, are asking Hammond to earmark funds in the November budget for a pay rise of 3.9% in line with inflation (Retail Price Index).
The claim also calls for an additional £800 to restore some of the pay lost over the past seven years.
Cleaners, nurses, radiographers, pharmacists, midwives, medical secretaries, paramedics, therapists, dental technicians, as well as caterers, porters and everyone else who works in the NHS have suffered real terms pay cuts of around 15 per cent because of the government’s harsh pay policies, say unions.
NHS unions believe the government has undermined the role of the independent pay review body and severely restricted its ability to make recommendations. Health unions are therefore seizing the initiative and going directly to the government.
The unions state that pay has fallen by 15% since 2010.
They insist that it is unfair that Tory ministers had selectively lifted the cap by agreeing a rise for police and prison officers.
In the letter, trade unions state that increasing pay will help tackle the shortages of staff being seen in the health service.
Earlier this year, the Royal College of Nursing stated that there were 40,000 posts unfilled – one in nine of the total. The cost of the pay rise, which the unions want implemented across the UK from next year, would total £2.5bn.
They are angry that a divide-and-rule attempt has been made by the government offering to give police officers a 1% rise plus a 1% bonus, with prison officers getting a 1.7% rise – both funded out of existing budgets.
The health unions representing over a million nurses, midwives, cleaners, porters, pharmacists, paramedics and dental technicians, insist that this award however still represents a pay cut.
Pay has been first frozen and then capped at 1% since 2010. Unison head of health Sara Gorton said: ‘A decent pay rise will make it easier for struggling hospital trusts to attract new recruits and hold on to experienced staff.’ Gorton warned: ‘There must be no selective lifting of the cap. All public servants deserve a proper pay rise, no matter where in the country they live or what job they do.’
Unite national officer for health Sarah Carpenter said: ‘The pay austerity in the public sector of the last seven years has been short-sighted and misguided. Making dedicated health professionals pick up the tab for the greed and machinations of a banking elite that nearly brought the UK’s financial system to its knees is just plain wrong.’
Royal College of Nursing chief executive and general secretary Janet Davies said: ‘If the government gives nurses the same deal as the police, it would still be a real-terms pay cut. Nursing staff must be given a pay rise that matches inflation, with an additional consolidated lump sum that begins to make up for the years of lost pay. It must be fully-funded and not force the NHS to cut services or jobs to pay for it.’
Royal College of Midwives director for employment relations and communications Jon Skewes said: ‘Last year, 80 per cent of midwives who were considering leaving the NHS said they would stay if their pay increased. It’s essential the government puts the funding in place to pay staff this fair increase so that the NHS can recruit and retain hardworking midwives and other NHS staff.’
