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

[Bluetoybox]

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!

And I should add too that the difference is, is that a lot of NHS workers have only just been keeping their heads above water for a long time. Not just through the pandemic.

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

Really? Lucky them.

In that case, they obviously don’t work in hospitality, travel, tourism, events, entertainment, aviation, ‘non-essential’ retail. etc etc.

@TheKeatingFive

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.

If I did my role in a private setting I’d be earning a lot more and we’d probably be fine. That’s the point. Bottom line is, we’ve been taken advantage of for a very long time now. And now the shit has hit the fan, it shows it up for what it is and nobody is willing to take responsibility.

The fact is, the country and its government need the NHS more than the NHS needs you. A system run on goodwill and vocation, is now not enough. Things need to change and being insulted like this could well be the straw that broke the back of it.

If I did my role in a private setting I’d be earning a lot more and we’d probably be fine.

Vote with your feet then and move. If people do so in enough numbers the government will respond.

@Susie477

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

Really? Lucky them.

In that case, they obviously don’t work in hospitality, travel, tourism, events, entertainment, aviation, ‘non-essential’ retail. etc etc.

IT for a multi national corporation and management team for a national hotel chain.

Not concerned.

Guess your ‘lucky them’ was sarcasm but maybe they are then.

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

Is there not decrease in demand to warrant furlough? In which case no guarantee it’ll pick up enough

If you read up thread @TheKeatingFive, that’s what I intend to do and I’ll break my heart in the process. And worst thing is, the government won’t do anything about it because they want us to fail so they can sell the NHS off to their mates and say “see, look, it didn’t work. Privatisation is the only way”.

management team for a national hotel chain.

I can’t think why they’d be sanguine, that sector has been hugely hit.

There are a lot of jobs that only still exist because of government supports. The reality hasn’t hit yet properly, but many people are assuming the worst, and there will be many casualties.

I don’t know why people are so shocked, I never believed for one minute that they would give us any kind of thanks.

I never got to see the claps because I was either just starting or just finishing a shift. I did get a sandwich though so should probably think myself lucky.

And worst thing is, the government won’t do anything about it because they want us to fail so they can sell the NHS off to their mates and say “see, look, it didn’t work. Privatisation is the only way”.

Unfortunately people keep voting Tory. That’s the bottom line.

@TheKeatingFive

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.

But the thing is, most public sector pensions aren’t that good anymore unfortunately. They’re only a hairline better on average to private sector pensions and lots are equal. What I meant was I’d happily sacrifice a marginally better pension for much better working conditions and pay.

I think 1% is shit for those on low salaries. But I also think anyone earning above the national average (around £28k) shouldn’t be moaning about a pay rise not being big enough.

Across the country there are millions of people who have lost (or are in the process of losing) their livelihood entirely. Having sleepless nights about paying mortgages, or the fact that they are in rent arrears (renters didn’t get the option of a “payment holiday” for their home in the way mortgage holders did). There were around 3million people who fell through the holes in the chancellor’s COVID economic support and were entitled to nothing or (the paltry) universal credit. Even before the pandemic there were record numbers of working people reliant on foodbanks.

@TheKeatingFive

And worst thing is, the government won’t do anything about it because they want us to fail so they can sell the NHS off to their mates and say “see, look, it didn’t work. Privatisation is the only way”.

Unfortunately people keep voting Tory. That’s the bottom line.

I hear you there! It’s a surprise every time after Election Day but I don’t know why.

If the NHS wasn't effectively a monopoly employer they'd have to compete for staff and pay what people are worth, just as private employers have to. I was gobsmacked when I learned how little nurses earn in the UK compared to the US.

What I meant was I’d happily sacrifice a marginally better pension for much better working conditions and pay.

I’m not sure why you assume you’d get better working conditions? Though I’ve no idea what industry you’re in, in fairness.

I doubt most private sector jobs are better paid, if the shortfall in pension is taken into consideration. Like I say, 600 a month is coming out of my monthly pay for pension. I also pay for more holidays because my allocation is legal minimum.

However, if people think they’d be better off in the private sector they should absolutely move. This government will not give them any thanks for staying put.

[quote Pomegranatespompom]@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.[/quote]
Exactly that. I have zero sympathy for someone who sat at home for months on 80% of their salary when my stepdaughter was pulling 12 hour shifts on ITU without a break because there wasn’t enough PPE for her to have two sets in a shift. Whose face broke out in weals from her mask and whose hands frequently bled. Who lost count of the number of her patients who died holding her hand but is now worth only a 1% payrise.

Its a disgrace.

And the final straw - they will never get a vote from me again.

You will be happy with your 1% when you see how high unemployment is going to be once furlough ends. A lot of firms will not be able to afford to keep the furloughed staff on once the scheme stops, because they’re up to their eyes in debt. Just be thankful you’re going to come out the other side of this shit show with a job. Now is not the time to fight this battle.

Now is not the time to fight this battle

If not now, when? This is exactly the time to fight it.

My DH is low pay scale frontline NHS worker. His view is that he's had job security and full pay throughout this so would happily do without a pay rise.

@VinylDetective when a large percentage of the country isn’t facing pay cuts and redundancy, when the country isn’t still racking up loads of debt trying to keep people and businesses afloat. Not now.

When should we fight this injustice? If people don't care now, when NHS staff have endured the immense struggle and difficultly that they have in this pandemic, when will they care?

It gets worse - according to the BBC news tonight, the nurses who are giving Covid jabs are getting paid about a fifth of what doctors, dentists and pharmacists are forgetting.

Nurses are getting about £13 an hour, working up to 12 hours giving the jabs, and the doctors, dentists and pharmacists are getting up to £66 PER HOUR.

[quote Racoonworld]@VinylDetective when a large percentage of the country isn’t facing pay cuts and redundancy, when the country isn’t still racking up loads of debt trying to keep people and businesses afloat. Not now.[/quote]
There will never be a time when this country has greater reason to be grateful to frontline healthcare staff. Strike while the iron’s hot, there’s no point in waiting until people have forgotten.

vinyldetective now isn’t the right time because we’re all bloody shot to pieces mentally and physically with what’s been happening this last 12 months. We’re finally seeing some light and emerging from this crap, and then we now have threats from the NHS of industrial action if they don’t get their reward ‘right now’.