To think the 1% pay rise for NHS is bloody insulting

[Thewithesarehere]

And that this is why Johnson was always up for clapping for NHS because he knew he will not offer them anything substantial for their services.
It’s infuriating!

As well as 1% most will move up a point in the pay scale. I think it’s fine. Many people are losing jobs. I’ve said I don’t want a pay rise this year.

I am torn with this. Yes, the NHS staff are well due a pay rise, and the spin being played by politicians regarding the average pay for nurses etc is despicable and wrong. But I do see that many of the general public will feel that 1% is better than nothing.
I did some time in ITU last year, redeployed, and it was the hardest thing I have ever done. Do I deserve a pay rise for it- no. Do I deserve a pay rise as my pay has been below inflation for over 10 years- yes.
If my pay had been in line with inflation I should be earning £8000 a year more. I know it will be another year of belt tightening and having to do a second job to get through. And that is what I don’t understand, do people want shattered, poorly paid nurses looking after them as they are working 2 jobs? Or do they want someone who is keen, rested, and thus able to provide proper care. I know what I’d choose.

I was absolutely disgusted today when I heard a Tory MP basically saying 1% is better than people in the tourism and leisure agency , as they are losing their jobs.

As you say, it is not a race to the bottom, and I wish the NHS workers who have worked so hard through this pandemic well, God knows they deserve reward for some of the things they have seen and been through. However, as one of those ‘high earners’ who should pay more tax to fund these pay rises, I am reluctant to offer yet another pound of my flesh. I’ve worked harder than ever, and received (depending on the month) a 20-50% pay cut to protect my fellow workers from redundancy and my company from bankruptcy while travelling to hostile regions to bring back necessary PPE, medical supplies, food, electronica, and more essential items as well as operating repatriation flights during the early days of the pandemic with all the perceived risks that entailed. I’ve experienced invasive testing in foreign airports, solitary room confinement, and worked 28hr continuous shifts where we have not been able to wear PPE due to the nature of the working environment.

I don’t anticipate a return to my previous way of working for perhaps a decade, or my previous salary at any point in the remainder of my career. I accept this, however, if someone should suggest taxing me more because I previously earned a great salary, in order to pay someone else more, I would find this hard to stomach.

I am sure NHS workers deserve more, but in the present financial climate I cannot see where it could come from without disadvantaging other people who are equally deserving.

@notdaddycool

As well as 1% most will move up a point in the pay scale. I think it’s fine. Many people are losing jobs. I’ve said I don’t want a pay rise this year.

They won't! A significant majority are already at the top of the pay scales so the cost of living increase is all they get each year.

Plus, as part of the 3 year pay deal, the pay scales reduced the pay increase points in each pay band. So a pay band might have 6 pay points in it but actually only 3 different salary amounts as point 1 and 2 are the same, point 3,4 and 5 are the same so actually staff only get an incremental rise after 2 years and then another one 3 years later.

YANBU - this is why I never participated in the clap. I could see exactly how it was going to go. Oh you are all such wonderful self sacrificing angels. Of course we won't treat you like skilled professionals and give you a decent pay settlement.

Better to give frontline NHS workers a bonus.

It's low, but remember many of us have worked every day throughout the pandemic, not just healthcare, don't get the perks like discounts at the supermarket or even vaccination (despite having to go into peoples homes) and for our sacrifice we got a 25% pay cut (or redundancy if we preferred!). We fund the government, there's simply no capacity to fund anything more, not until the economy picks up

I understand why people regard the proposes increase as an insult , but there are other groups of workers who have worked all the way through, in less than ideal situations, who won't be getting anything at all. That's before we even begin to consider those who will have lost their jobs, or taken reductions in income during the past year. In an ideal world, the NHS, indeed all public sector employees would be paid better. In an ideal world, we would not have had this pandemic. But we don't live in an ideal world. We live in a world where someone has to pay for the proposed increase. It is not right that people who have already lost so much should have to lose even more to fund this.

No pay rise but a one off bonus to any nurse who worked in a Covid ward would have been better.

I'm neutral about the 1% offer. What did people expect the pandemic controls to cost? The HCWs are getting something, other keyworkers are getting zero rise. Public sector workers have had low disruptions & more pay security than private sector.

Except apparently govts don't need to budget any more, they can spend whatever the like (many argue). I need someone to explain why government debt or budget deficits even matter.

MPs could legislate that their own payrises can't be be any greater than the average % rise for the entire public sector workforce. Then their own pay commission group would have a ceiling but still be independently determined.

I would favour a one off bonus for the true ‘front line’ nhs staff. I would also like to see teachers rewarded for the extraordinary efforts made to teach online.