GMB calls for NHS key workers to have pay justice
Members’ anger cannot be dismissed - everyone is watching and waiting for NHS Pay Review Body to do the right thing, GMB tells panel
GMB, the union for NHS and ambulance workers, has today given oral evidence to the Pay Review Body (PRB) calling for key workers in the NHS to have pay justice.
The Government and NHS England’s PRB submissions recommended a ‘paltry’ 1 per cent pay increase for health workers – amounting to a real terms pay cut.
GMB members are angry Ministers have put ‘affordability’ over a pay rise for NHS staff, the lowest paid of whom are on less than the foundation living wage.
GMB’s pay claim is one of restorative pay – 15% or £2 per hour whichever is the greatest to make up for what NHS workers have lost after ten years of real terms pay cuts.
Meanwhile, GMB is campaigning for covid to be classified as an industrial disease.
Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary, said: “GMB was the only union who said no to the last pay deal and we have been proven right to do so.
“Staff morale is at an all-time low and talks of a paltry 1 per cent pay offer only serves to rub salt in the wounds.
“Another real terms pay cut for our paramedics, nurses, health care assistants, porters and cleaners cannot be the way forward for an NHS service that is on its knees with staffing shortages and backlogs as a result of the pandemic.
“Today, we have called on the PRB to take the anger felt by our members seriously. Their views cannot be dismissed and everyone is watching and waiting for the PRB to do the right thing.
“Our members know their value - even if the Government don’t - and they are prepared to fight for it if they have to.”
Information about the pay rise we are campaigning for, and what this would mean for you, is available for download on this page too, so do have a read.
