Healthcare workers take part in Mansfield protest as part of pay row

Around 20 healthcare workers from Nottinghamshire had a socially distanced gathering at the town hall, Market Square on Saturday morning to bring change for NHS workers and demand that the government give them a 15 per cent pay rise.

The rally was one of 30 events taking place all across the country to demand urgent action from the government as NHS workers feel as though they deserve increased pay after battling on the front line during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, the government announced a pay rise for public sector workers including teachers, doctors and dentists but health care staff including nurses, midwives and hospital cleaners will not benefit as they are already part of the Agenda for Change (AfC) – a separate three-year pay deal which ends next April.

Jon Dale, secretary of Unite the union Nottinghamshire Health branch, said: “A pay rise will make up some of the lost income that has been taking place over the last ten years.

“The average staff nurse has lost six and a half thousand pounds a year in terms of real purchasing power, that’s a 20 per cent pay cut.

“Restoring some pay will be a step forward.”

The Royal College of Nursing and other health unions representing NHS staff on the Agenda for Change pay system are calling on the government to bring forward discussions on the next NHS pay rise.

With the support of the Trade Union Committee and Royal College of Nursing Council, they have told the government that waiting until 2021 is ‘not acceptable’.

A recent survey by the Royal College of Nursing found that out of the 42,000 healthcare workers asked, 36 per cent considered leaving with the majority saying that unfair pay was the reason.

The Unite the union Nottinghamshire Health branch also have other events planned for the future to continue this campaign.

Jon said: “We will be building on last Saturday’s protest which we see as just the beginning of a campaign.

“We also want to reach out to care workers in privatised homes who do similar work, often with even less pay as they should have a reasonable standard of living for the essential work that they’re doing.

“In all this, we want to get our trade unions campaigning to end low and pay and provide decent health and care services for everybody.”