Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Share your poster for a proper NHS pay rise
Mirror will publish winning design
DAILY Mirror readers are being asked to design a poster that supports a proper pay rise for the NHS.
A campaign launched by 14 trade unions is asking households to put up bright posters on April 1 – when health service staff were scheduled to receive a pay rise.
The Tories proposed a 1% pay rise, which is forecast to be below inflation by the time it comes in.
The best hand-drawn or painted poster will be published on Wednesday.
Unison general secretary Christina Mcanea said: “Let’s show every health worker we are on their side and shame the Government into giving them the decent pay rise they deserve.”
NHS Long Term Plan documents show the Government had planned a 2.1% pay rise for staff from April.
Ministers instead delivered a 1% pay suggestion for England to the NHS Pay Review Body. The body is now taking evidence from other organisations before delivering its recommendation in June.
The Government will have the final say and any rise is now not likely to come in until August at the earliest.
By contrast the devolved Government in Scotland has agreed rises from 4% to 5.4%, backdated to December.
Dame Donna Kinnair, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “The Government cannot ignore the growing support of the public shining out from windows.
“Nursing staff are disgusted with the 1% pay proposal. The public is with us. The Government needs to listen.”
The cost of raising the wages of the majority of the English NHS workforce by 1% this year would be £750million, ministers say.
PM Boris Johnson claims only a 1% pay rise is “affordable” despite splashing £37billion on a failing Test and Trace system.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “Over one million NHS staff continue to benefit from multi-year pay deals agreed with trade unions, which have delivered a pay rise of over 12% for newly qualified nurses and will increase junior doctors’ pay scales by 8.2%.”
Let’s show NHS staff we are on their side & shame the Government CHRISTINA MCANEA OF THE UNION UNISON