Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Nurses protest on streets in bid to scrap public sector pay gap
Nurses turned out on the streets of Canterbury to protest against the government’s refusal to scrap the 1% public sector pay cap.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing gathered in St George’s Place as part of a national day of action aimed at raising their pay in order to stop so many quitting the profession.
Nurse Jayne Mccreadie, who works in A&E at the QEQM Hospital in Margate, was among those protesting in the city.
The 57-year-old said: “In real terms the cost of living has gone up 14.5%, but wages are not keeping pace with inflation.
“We were out because we really need the public’s support on this and it was great that so many people were prepared to support us. We are also going to need the public’s support if in the future there is industrial action.”
They were joined by Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who is campaigning to raise public sector pay, and retired nurse and veteran health campaigner Peggy Pryer.
Mrs Pryer, who lives in Bridge and worked in the NHS for 30 years, said: “The scrap the cap protest was very well supported by members of the public who realise just how dire the situation is.
“We are losing people from the profession because the pay is inadequate.
“Rosie Duffield came down as she is very sympathetic to the cause, and to increasing public sector pay across the board.”
Data from NHS Digital released last week confirmed a fall in the number of nurses employed in England while there had been an increase in the number of adverts for nursing posts.
With the RCN partly blaming the departures on the pay cap, Canterbury and Whitstable’s MP is among those calling for an end to it.
“Public sector pay has been frozen for seven years and what the Labour Party is saying is that this is completely unfair,” Ms Duffield said.
“The cost of living is going up and people are really struggling. There are an awful lot of people using food banks and about half of those are in work.”
Faversham and Mid-kent Conservative MP Helen Whately is among the Conservative MPS who voted against raising public sector pay over the 1% threshold.
Last month she said: “I want to see well-paid public sector workers, but we have to have the money to pay them and I’m of the view we need to look at public sector pay in the light of increasing inflation.
“But the right time to do that is in the autumn at the budget and when public sector pay review bodies report.”
The RCN is planning to hold a rally in London on September 6.