Insulted key worker wage rises don't include nurses

[nowayhose]

Just what it says really, I'm insulted that police/ fire service/ paramedics are all getting a descent wage rise as recognition for their above and beyond efforts during Cornavirus pandemic, but nurses get bugger all as they're still in the process of getting the 3 year gradual wage increase. (even after this 3 year incremental wage increase, nurses pay will be well below what the other emergency services get)

All fours of us in our house work in private sector not had an inflation beating or matching pay rise for years if at all it's not just the NHS.

@meredintofpandiculation then you and the majority of people have also accepted real time pay cuts. Can I ask why you think that's OK? Why are we accepting the gradual devaluation of our workforce? What possible reason could there be that we - the people doing the jobs - are saying "yep, we're worth less today than we were yesterday, makes perfect sense"?

Stop taking this shit lying down and defending it by dragging everyone else into the mud with you.

Some very depressing attitudes on here. The 2018 "raise" (and I use that term loosely as for the vast majority of nurses it was a below inflation rise, therefore actually a cut, just less of a cut than usual) was negotiated after nurses had to resort of numerous strikes following a lengthy pay freeze (I.e. after having an in effect pay cut year on year for many years).

Nurses pay has been cut significantly in the last decade, and working conditions have got much worse too. To those pp being facetious about nurses having the choice to leave - you do realise that is exactly what a large number of nurses are doing each year? The nurse shortage is absolutely desperate. We cannot provide safe care in my team, as we currently have 50% only of our nursing roles filled.

Nurses are underpaid because they are paid significantly less than other roles with similar levels of required qualifications and responsibility. 24K is nothing for what a staff nurse has to know and do.

DH has been away this whole time assisting with the effort, he was due this pay rise in April but it's not been paid yet and might not be back paid! He's also worked hard, not more deserving than a nurse, but also deserves it overall. I hope healthcare workers get a raise too, but let's not be salty!

It's a load of bollocks! In the L.A. I work for we had a pay freeze for about 7 years 🤔

Yo have to take into account unsociable hours payments which increases salaries by rather a lot

Only if you work them. There are many B5 roles within hours that do not receive unsocial hours payments.

Unsocial hours are not paid if you are off sick or on holiday, either. They are paid per shift worked, by the hour.

If the Trust take you off shift work for a safety reason (i.e. you can't work on your area if pregnant, or you are suspended for an investigation) these enhancements are sometimes paid, but that's it. If you work less nights in a month you get less pay.

But in the middle of a global pandemic when people are losing their livelihoods and then their homes, I am frustrated with the frequent threads from nurses moaning about not getting something they think (usually incorrectly) someone else is getting, and acting like they didn't know it would be hard work for not great pay as if they were tricked into the profession or something

This. I have a few friends who work for charities, big ones, the likes of Cancer Research UK and Macmillan. Two of my friends work within the NHS in roles involving training and supporting doctors and nurses to improve their cancer referrals, help patients understand the pathway etc. They both work extremely hard and during covid have worked even harder because most of their teams were furloughed. On less pay too.

This week one of those charities has announced that several hundred jobs will be going. We think the other charity isn't far behind.

The impact that the loss of these jobs on the NHS is massive.

Both of my friends are likely to lose their jobs. Both of them are doing the equivalent of a band 8a on band 6 salary.

So I'm afraid my sympathy is with my friends and the other charity workers who not only will not be getting a pay rise any time soon, but may we'll end up losing their jobs.

Nurse pay is low because they won’t strike. You don’t get what you don’t ask for. Collective bargaining is effective especially in a profession as vital to the country as nursing. The press will crucify you, the public will criticise but you’ll get the pay.

Honestly in nursing if you simply worked to rule, took unpaid breaks, never stayed late etc, the system would collapse so that might be a way forward. Healthcare staff who work unpaid hours simply facilitate low pay and chronic understaffing. Stop doing it and watch things improve. Move from vocation and heroes to people doing a job and things will massively improve

I've worked to rule and been out on unpaid strike action. Last time a man shouted at me on the picket line that I was a disgrace

Let them shout, be a disgrace. It would benefit the public for nursing to be an elite, higher paid profession, it improves quality. We need to move away from the idea that vital services should be low paid, performed by heroes rather than by well trained, highly qualified professionals who work for money not sympathy.

The 08 recession was fortunate to not result in high unemployment but one of its legacies was wage stagnation for public & private. Lots of jobs pay the same as they did 10 yrs ago. We need huge investment but I'm bit sure how we can fund it.

Nurses in training do see what the work is like on placements which is why the drop out rate is so high.
I started as a nursing assistant then trained and I'm nearing retirement age.Like many nurses I will go part time as the huge pension I will get won't support me and my kids.
The job is nothing like it was,it has always been hard work but we didn't do the long days so had a bit of a life and saw our children everyday.Working 12.5 hour days+travelling I could not see mine awake for days.Combining shifts and children is mostly impossible,nurses have to take career breaks and so don't have a full pension on retirement.
The difficulty of the job has increased with more patients to treat,increasingly old with multiple health issues with less nurses.Covid has been even more draining and all the time you are aware of the tsunami of patients to come as restrictions ease and aware they it could all come back in winter.
The majority of staff worked hard,many redeployed,vunerable staff moved away from the less predictable areas or sheilding(so even less staff).Now were all working extra long and hard and yes staff are leaving.
If nursing were a better paid graduate profession we might attract and retain more staff but as it is at the moment and much as I have enjoyed much of it it is not a job I would recommend as it is now.

I work in a care home so obviously shit pay but we also have the fabulous benefit of being looked down on and viewed as less than by many others. And we got royally sacked off by GPs, CPNs, District nurses, hospitals etc. No pay rises for us since our council pays so little and regularly leaves it 6 months or more with no payment at all. The worst I'd heard was when the council paid nothing for one lady for 22months.

irony/sarcasm on: but we clapped for you! who would want a payrise if they got clapping!

None of that is to do with this set of pay rises though, I feel that's the message.

Most public sector workers usually get a pay rise or not around this time of year don't they? They've just put a spin on it this year.

Also the media is making it sound like it's just nurses who aren't included: it's pretty much all NHS staff apart from consultant doctors.

I'm a nurse, a pay rise would be nice obviously, especially as the three year pay deal was very cleverly worded and didn't really benefit people on my pay band/point compared to the old system. But we're headed towards a massive recession, people are losing their jobs, so I'm not expecting a pay rise anytime soon.

I'd be happier with the guarantee of in date PPE and staff testing tbh.

While normally I would have every sympathy with nurses, where does OP think the money would come from for more pay rises for nurses? Iirc, this country is £2 trillion in debt, which is massive for a small country. The Covid 19 lockdown has to be paid for; and imo if wfh becomes the new norm for many office workers, we could be heading for a Depression with small businesses collapsing and millions of hospitality workers, etc unemployed?

Covid 19 has to be paid for!

In my role I’ve basically had a pay cut in real terms for years. It sucks 🤦‍♀️

Everyone talks about nurses and nobody mentions the HCA’s or other support staff.

Are any of these rises actually new? The school teacher pay review board recommended this increase in January and it was widely expected that it would be adopted before schools set their budgets in April.

Yeah I guess we got a pay rise in April. My pay rise was £40 a month.
But what about next April? There’s no pay rise due then?

Tbh I’m just going to get a few years more experience and move to a country which actually values it’s workers.

@Lalaok

We will get the last pay increase from the 3 year pay deal in April 2021. That's the one that I'm actually looking forward to as it will actually be a pay rise for me!

But yes, go abroad, Australia, Canada, New Zealand pay nurses more than the UK, though the cost of living is more expensive, but the increase in salary is still there. Some of my colleagues have gone to Australia and are loving it, working conditions also seem much better than the UK. Good luck!

Good for you @Lalaok.

@ DarkMintChocolate

I realise the vast amounts of money spent by the government during Covid will need to be repaid. I also realise that many people may lose their jobs, and I empathise. I honestly think we need to restructure the NHS too to eliminate many 'management' posts as there's ''too many chiefs and not enough indians'' within the NHS.

However, the saying '' If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys'' is definitely true, and as a nurse, I'm feeling devalued, exhausted, unsupported and my mental health has taken a battering during Covid (and most staff I work with have said the same) Many are wanting to leave the NHS, and if they do, their posts won't be filled.

I really feel that unless the government starts to pay ALL the emergency services and key workers a descent wage that reflects the level of training, expertise, experience and personal responsibility shouldered by them on a daily basis, then these people will either burn out, become unwell or simply leave.

If that happens, then the whole country will fall to pieces and there will be no more NHS . Societies infrastructure will fold without the work done by key workers, but how many key workers have gone above and beyond, daily, and are now being told ''you chose the job, so suck it up'' And how long do you really expect anyone to want to continue ??

Covid 19 is just 1 of many viruses or diseases which can and will cause future pandemics, it's simply a matter of time before we're in a crisis again. So if we've exhausted, underpaid and under supported all the key workers and they've left, who the hell will pick up the reins and take over from them ? We routinely can't employ enough nurses etc now ffs.