Our nurses deserve better pay
SCOTLAND’S nurses have seen a real terms pay cut of £3400 under the SNP.
It’s time to scrap the pay cap for our dedicated NHS staff.
Labour have committed to scrapping the one per cent pay cap in England but the SNP last week voted against a pay rise for staff.
That is an insult to those who work so hard to keep our health service running.
The choice in this election is now clear: A Labour Party fighting for better wages and a stronger NHS, or the SNP, who will fight for another independence referendum that Scotland just doesn’t want.
Only Labour are focused on the needs of our NHS and giving staff the support they need to deliver the care Scots deserve.
Last weekend, the Royal College of Nursing announced they will have a “summer of protest activity” and potentially a strike ballot over the one per cent pay cap.
Budget savings from the Tory/SNP pay restraints are being used to meet efficiency-saving targets for the NHS.
The result is that NHS staff pay has fallen behind the cost of living and workers are now struggling to survive on their pay packet. This simply isn’t good enough. In England, Labour have announced a “New Deal” for the NHS, with a pledge to take millions of people off waiting lists and fix broken A&Es with essential additional funding and tough new targets.
If only the SNP could come up with a similar plan.
Unfortunately, Nicola Sturgeon only cares about planning for an unwanted and unnecessary second independence referendum.