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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that if NHS staff get a 1% pay rise that is nothing but an insult?

423 replies

Bluetoybox · 04/03/2021 22:22

Given the joke of a pay rise given over the last 3 years, well below inflation in real terms anyway but where the Government also out and out lied by failing to mention that you'd drop an increment step to get your pay rise and now this after all the NHS have done in the last year!!! A decade capped at 1% before the 3 year review and now they want to send us right back to 1%
Absolutely disgusted!

OP posts:
WingingWonder · 05/03/2021 20:03

It is awful. But.
We are going broke as a country
Public sector are the only people I know who haven’t lost their jobs
ALL my friends and family have been impacted by restructures and redundancies where they work
Many private sector people now on pay cuts
Many many SE friends in seriously bad way after best part of a year restricted work (hospitality and beauty- business owners especially)
So- it’s not a race to bottom but it’s difficult too, I wonder if a lump sum to them all would have just been fairer ( prorated for hours)

LongTimeMammaBear · 05/03/2021 20:05

While I think they have done an amazing job, absolutely deserve a raise

BUT

If the money isn’t there, it isn’t there

However, if shops and services give a discount to NHS staff, that they save in many regular living expenses, than their cost of living would be lower. Many businesses already give nhs staff discounts.

rwalker · 05/03/2021 20:07

@Racoonworld
RWALKER
HOW MUCH DO WE THINK A FULL-TIME NURSE A YEAR SHOULD EARN
THE AVERAGE SALARY IS APPROXIMATELY 28K. SO 30K ONCE A NURSE HAS AROUND 8 YEARS EXPERIENCE, 24K STARTING SALARY FOR A GRADUATE NURSE WOULD BE FAIR AND IN LINE WITH A LOT OF SKILLED JOBS IN THE UK.

LONDON WEIGHTING ON TOP FOR LONDON AND SURROUNDING AREAS.

HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO THEIR ACTUAL PAY?

Similar it's just didn't know what to says to my friend she's a band 6 nurse always on about how shit her pay is . Then said with a touch of overtime she normal gets about 37k year .

Pomegranatespompom · 05/03/2021 20:07

@Susie477 I think some public sector withers would have been happy to have been furloughed for a while. People are exhausted.
Zero sympathy - awful comment to make. People made enormous sacrifices by continuing to work - not just nhs staff.

motherrunner · 05/03/2021 20:10

@Susie477

I work in the private sector, in an industry which has been decimated by the pandemic. I have been furloughed three times, for a total of five months, on 80% of my salary. My employer has paused pension contributions to save money. I am currently working part time, which we were all forced to accept in order to minimise redundancies. Many of my colleagues, and thousands of others in our industry have not been so fortunate, and are now unemployed.

Forgive me if I have zero sympathy for public sector workers who have secure jobs & pensions bleating about ‘only’ getting a 1% pay rise this year. Poor lambs. Angry

Would have loved to have been furloughed 3x. Have worked throughout and an fucking exhausted. 80% of my salary? Bloody heaven!
cinammonbuns · 05/03/2021 20:13

@Susie477 you have been on furlough so not working for months and still getting 80% of your salary while people have been working flat out at risk of catching Covid in layers of PPE and have been afford a 1% pay rise. And you think you are the one having a hard time! The mind boggles.

TheKeatingFive · 05/03/2021 20:13

Would have loved to have been furloughed 3x.

With absolutely no certainty you had a job to go back to?

Seriously?

WrongKindOfFace · 05/03/2021 20:16

We’ve all had a shit year but it’s not a race to the bottom.

Funny how there is always money for MP’s pay rises, or to spunk on contracts for their mates, but somehow nurses are the greedy, grasping ones?

lookdeepintotheparka · 05/03/2021 20:17

Me too! I found this comment actually really upsetting after the most stressful year of my life and working hundreds of hours of unpaid overtime Sad

motherrunner · 05/03/2021 20:19

@TheKeatingFive

Would have loved to have been furloughed 3x.

With absolutely no certainty you had a job to go back to?

Seriously?

Actually yes. My brother and his wife haven’t worked for over a year yet has been paid 80-% of their salary. They have paid their mortgage, kept on top of their bills as they had to pay for commute etc. With their ‘savings’ the paid for an extension. Forgive me if I’m bitter being in a classroom with 32 other people unvaccinated.
Racoonworld · 05/03/2021 20:22

@rwalker I had no idea they earned that much to be honest. I now don't think they are underpaid, especially with the better pensions and job security.

Susie477 · 05/03/2021 20:25

[quote cinammonbuns]@Susie477 you have been on furlough so not working for months and still getting 80% of your salary while people have been working flat out at risk of catching Covid in layers of PPE and have been afford a 1% pay rise. And you think you are the one having a hard time! The mind boggles.[/quote]
We were furloughed because our livelihoods have been destroyed through no fault of our own, not because we all felt like having a nice holiday. We all still have mortgages & bills to pay and mouths to feed despite taking a 20% pay cut and none of us know if our jobs will still exist when this is over.

Public sector workers do very important jobs, and of course many of them have had a shit year. But their jobs & pensions are secure, which means they are in a better position than many others, pay rise or not.

ThrowingAShellstrop · 05/03/2021 20:27

@TheKeatingFive

Would have loved to have been furloughed 3x.

With absolutely no certainty you had a job to go back to?

Seriously?

I’m a great believer in there not being a race to the bottom. Different bots and all that.

Having said that, I have seen and heard things this last year that I never wish to see or hear again. It keeps me awake at night and I see it all in my dreams. There’s been days when I have been so physically battered I didn’t think I’d be able to use my legs and arms the next day I’ve been working stupid hours with plenty of them for free. I’ve never cried so much over work. Yes, there’s been points where if they offered me furlough, I would’ve bit their hand off. Even if it meant losing my job because the job I once loved has been tarnished by this pandemic and the way we’ve been treated throughout.

I’m imm my LG speaking for myself of course but I know so many that feel the same.

TwatWaffleTwinkleToes · 05/03/2021 20:27

Agree OP. It's just fucking awful :(

frumpety · 05/03/2021 20:27

No magic money tree

To think that if NHS staff get a 1% pay rise that is nothing but an insult?
ThrowingAShellstrop · 05/03/2021 20:28

Gosh apologies for typos Blush but you get the gist.

ThrowingAShellstrop · 05/03/2021 20:30

And no our pensions ARE NOT secure. I’m sure there will be somebody that can explain this fully but in short, we will be taking much less out than we will have put in.

Morgoth · 05/03/2021 20:36

I have no idea why people think that public sector pensions in the modern day are amazing or that they are significantly good enough a perk to offset the rubbish pay and working conditions. I bet almost every public sector worker would be happy to have a pension similar to that of the private sector in return for comparable pay and working conditions for their job role in the private sector. There’s certainly nothing “gold plated” about the majority of public sector pensions and in a few years, the government will raid whats left of those too anyway.

PattyPan · 05/03/2021 20:36

@Susie477 not all public sector roles come with a defined benefit/final salary pension. I’m on a defined contribution scheme same as most private sector workers.

TheKeatingFive · 05/03/2021 20:46

I bet almost every public sector worker would be happy to have a pension similar to that of the private sector in return for comparable pay and working conditions for their job role in the private sector.

This is ... very naive.

I put 600 a month of my pay into a defined contribution pension and I will be far short of what what most public sector workers will end up with in retirement.

If you are comparing DC with DC then fair enough. However if you are in the happy position of having a direct benefit pension it is apples and oranges.

TheKeatingFive · 05/03/2021 20:50

Yes, there’s been points where if they offered me furlough, I would’ve bit their hand off.

What you’ve been through is immensely tough, no question. But equally, so is staring down the barrel of the gun of redundancy and the threat of losing your home.

I know many people in this position and they are having sleepless night about how they’ll pay their mortgage. Be careful what you wish for.

motherrunner · 05/03/2021 20:55

@TheKeatingFive

Yes, there’s been points where if they offered me furlough, I would’ve bit their hand off.

What you’ve been through is immensely tough, no question. But equally, so is staring down the barrel of the gun of redundancy and the threat of losing your home.

I know many people in this position and they are having sleepless night about how they’ll pay their mortgage. Be careful what you wish for.

And everyone who I know who has been furloughed have had a less stressful year than my colleagues. Not one person I know on furlough is worried about their jobs. Maybe their employers are abusing the system, I don’t know. All I know is that they’re safe at home whilst I’m out every day.
ThrowingAShellstrop · 05/03/2021 20:57

@TheKeatingFive I get that and funnily enough I have those sleepless nights about paying my mortgage too. My husband is self employed. We lost his income overnight. Perhaps if my skilled role was paid what it’s worth, we’d be sleeping a lot better. That situation isn’t explosive. I know many people that work for the NHS that are just keeping their heads above water.

TheKeatingFive · 05/03/2021 20:57

Not one person I know on furlough is worried about their jobs

That’s not my reality at all. If they’re being furloughed for the third time, then I hazard they might be being very naive. Plenty of businesses will not survive this.

TheKeatingFive · 05/03/2021 21:00

Perhaps if my skilled role was paid what it’s worth, we’d be sleeping a lot better.

Not many couples nowadays can survive on one salary, is the unfortunate truth.

Ultimately, the economic hardship coming is very significant and widespread. It’s going to be very difficult for many people in the next few years.

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