Show support for NHS pay rise with posters in windows, say health unions
on 26 March 2021 Pay NHS Pay Review Body Pay and Agenda For Change NHS NHS England NHS Funding NHS Unions NHS Staff Government
n dowPeople across the country are being asked to put colourful posters in their windows in support of a proper NHS pay rise, in a campaign launched today (Friday) by health unions representing more than a million health workers.
Fourteen unions – including Royal College of Midwives, UNISON and the Royal College of Nursing and the – are urging households across the UK to show their appreciation for NHS workers with bright, hand-finished displays on Thursday 1 April.
The unions say this will show the public strength of feeling on the day NHS staff should have received a wage increase and be a welcome 'thank you' for all their tireless efforts over the past year to keep everyone safe.
Delays mean health workers – including cleaners, porters, physiotherapists, 999 call handlers, nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants – must now wait until later in the year for the wage rise they are due. To make matters worse, say unions, the government has proposed a rise of just 1%.
Royal College of Midwives chief executive and general secretary Gill Walton said: “We’re a week away from 1 April, when NHS staff should have received a pay rise. But we’re still fighting for what the government should have already given – a significant pay rise.
“The public are with NHS staff and their continued support is much appreciated. NHS staff have battled the pandemic in unbelievably tough conditions.
"They just want a decent pay rise. Scotland’s proved a significant, backdated offer is affordable. All the UK’s NHS workers deserve a proper wage increase.”
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
“Everyone can join the NHS ‘thank you’ with an eye-catching window show. The brighter the better to bring cheer to everyone’s street and to those giving their all on the front line.
“The public have shown they genuinely value health workers. But ministers have put on a false front with praise one minute and a meagre 1% the next.
“Ministers must display more imagination and heart. The Scottish government’s already shown if the will is there, the money can be found.”
Royal College of Nursing chief executive and general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair said: “Last year the public put beautiful rainbow pictures in their windows to say thank you to NHS staff for their amazing work during the pandemic.
“Now we’re urging them to put posters up again, this time to help ensure those staff are rewarded properly for their skill, dedication and professionalism.
“Nursing staff are disgusted with the government’s pitiful 1% pay proposal. They have the public’s support. The government needs to listen and change course.”
You can download the poster here: https://e-activist.com/page/79041/action/1
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