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The public is urged to join a massive applause in protest of a government recommendation for a 1% wage increase for NHS workers, as unions warn of a possible strike.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has established a £ 35 million strike fund that can be used to offset lost income and campaigning should members decide to ditch the tools.
RCN CEO and Secretary General Dame Donna Kinnair condemned Health Minister Nadine Dorries’ claim that 1% was “the most” the government could afford, calling it “regrettably and bitterly disappointing.”
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Minister defends 1% salary increase from NHS
And Unite, which also represents tens of thousands of health services personnel, has warned that it is also considering industrial action amid mounting anger over wage proposals it called “insult” and “hypocrisy in its greatest form.” .
Some healthcare workers have said the proposal would allow them to take home an additional £ 3.50 per week.
Ameera Sheikh, an intensive care nurse and representative for Unite, said rising costs of living had left people struggling with stagnant wages, and that government support earlier in the pandemic now felt “bogus.”
Referring to the prime minister’s battle against the coronavirus, he said: “We have treated people from the lowest socioeconomic backgrounds as literally the leader of the country.
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“We have sacrificed so much since the beginning of the pandemic, and that includes moving out of our family homes to live close to the hospital and protect our families and living in complete isolation, which is something I really had to do.
“We are facing an increasingly dangerous workload in the intensive care unit, and a large number of staff are being transferred to the ICU without basic intensive care training.
“As well, lack of PPE and having to reuse PPE or wear expired PPE and risk our lives. “
Labor also criticized the government’s proposal, with shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth calling it “disgusting” and party leader Sir Keir Starmer saying that ministers you must acknowledge the UK’s “COVID heroes”.
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The RCN Board said it had quickly established its strike fund in order to have the finances available to its members should they want to take action.
“By establishing this fund, the RCN will create the UK’s largest union strike fund overnight,” it said in a statement.
Dame Donna also warned the government to expect a “backlash” from up to one million NHS employees for her announcement about the pay.
She said: “The government is dangerously out of touch with nurses, NHS workers and the public. It is not a done deal, but the government has revealed its hand for the first time.”
“With the time remaining before the recommendation of the Pay Review Body, the government can expect a backlash from one million NHS workers.”
The Royal College of Nursing says it will create the UK’s largest union strike fund overnight
The RCN had been campaigning for a 12.5% salary increase, but on Friday Ms Dorries, a former nurse, told Sky News that the government’s recommendation of 1% was appropriate.
She said: “We didn’t want the nurses to go unrecognized, and the doctors, and no other public sector employee is getting a pay increase, there has been a pay freeze.
“But the 1% offer is the most we think we can afford, which we have submitted to the salary review body.”
Boris Johnson personally thanked the NHS when he was released from the hospital last spring, saying in a video message that those who cared for him “saved my life, no question.”
He said during PMQ shortly thereafter on May 20: “We want to see our fantastic front-line workers paid properly.
“I think that’s the best way forward. I want our NHS staff to be adequately paid, for our NHS to be supported.”
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A government spokesperson previously said: “More than a million NHS employees continue to benefit from multi-year pay agreements agreed with the unions, which have resulted in a pay increase of more than 12% for newly qualified nurses and will increase the pay scale. of junior doctors 8.2%.
“Pay increases in the rest of the public sector will come to a halt this year due to the challenging economic environment, but we will continue to provide pay increases for NHS workers, in addition to a £ 513 million investment in career development and increased recruitment.
“That’s with a record number of doctors and 10,600 more nurses working in our NHS, and with an increase of more than a third in college nursing applications.
“The independent salary review bodies will report in late spring and we will consider their recommendations carefully when we receive them.”
