Hundreds of nurses take their battle for a pay rise to the streets
NURSES who say they have been excluded from recent public sector pay rises protested across Wales on Saturday.
More than a thousand nurses took to the streets to demand a pay rise, with marches held in Cardiff, Swansea, Merthyr and Bridgend.
In Wales, nurses are in the final year of a three-year pay deal agreed in 2018 that was almost identical to the pay rise agreed in England at the same time.
Almost 900,000 public sector workers have been given an aboveinflation pay rise, including doctors, dentists and police.
In Wales, a new pay deal was also recently agreed for teachers that will give them an above-inflation pay rise.
Senior staff nurse from Merthyr Tydfil, Rhian Bethell, who contracted coronavirus during the height of the pandemic, said: “Everyone I know works overtime or extra shifts. How can you sustain a life, work 50 hours a week and be there for your children and your family? You just can’t. It’s practically impossible.”
Port Talbot staff nurse Jessica Bamford said: “We have been taken advantage of for far too long. We are being held over a moral barrel as they know that we won’t just get up and leave because we care about our patients too much.”
Under the previous 2018 deal, nurses are due a pay rise next April, but unions want the UK and Welsh governments to bring it forward to this year to show its appreciation for NHS staff.
The current agreement is said this year to have seen the average nurse receiving an average increase of 4.4%.
However, nurses in the higher bracket of their pay grade said the rise is worth “pennies” each month.
In Cardiff the protest took place outside the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, they marched from Castle Square to the Guildhall in Swansea, at Merthyr they gathered at the fountain, and in Bridgend outside the Princess of Wales Hospital.
In Cardiff they carried placards reading “A clap in the face”, “Pay us respect. Pay us fair wages” and “A nurse is for life. Not just for Covid-19”.
Clinical nurse specialist Amy Mainwaring, who organised the Cardiff march, told the BBC: “It’s not just about what happened during the pandemic, we’ve been chronically underfunded for years.
“I saw an advert for a litter picker job in London offering a higher salary than me and yet there are nurses who are having to access food banks. It’s so wrong.”
She said 540 NHS staff died from coronavirus and many nurses “have lost colleagues”.
“So when we’re ignored from the pay rise, nurses and staff felt it was time to stop standing quietly by. I just hope ministers are listening,” she added.
In Swansea there was plenty of anger at pay conditions.
Sandra Holmes and Justine Redden both work at Morriston Hospital in Swansea.
Sandra said: “It’s disgraceful. For the last seven or eight years there’s been a pay freeze. We are a lot worse off now than we were 10 years ago.
“I work two jobs just to have a good standard of living. I feel like a doormat.
“In the last 18 years there’s been a steep decline in the NHS.”
Justine added: “The Government does not value the loyalty and experience of staff.”
Pauline Morris, a health care assistant at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, said: “I’m here to support the nurses, domestics, the porters. It’s disappointing. We feel worthless and taken for granted. I hope after this the Government think about the value of all the staff.”
Stacey Davies, who also works at Morriston and has been a nurse since 2013, said: “We are all here today to
support each other.
“I feel as if the NHS isn’t a big deal to the Government. It feels like they don’t care.
“We don’t expect to be rewarded, we choose to do this job, but we just want to be treated the same as other public sectors.
“I hope the Government can see that the NHS means a lot to people and we don’t want to be pushed aside.”
Natasha Medwell and Phil Smith both work for the Welsh Ambulance Service.
Natasha said: “It’s unfair that we have been left out. All the staff deserve a pay rise, including the nurses and the porters.
“We have been underpaid for years. It’s a kick in the teeth. None of us were expecting this and we weren’t prepared for the pandemic. We have had issues with PPE, the worst is still to come.”
Colleague Phil added: “The last few months have been exhausting. The Welsh Ambulance Service has been brilliant but the Government has let us down. It’s not just about pay, it’s about respect.”
Sarah Cole, who also works at Morriston
Hospital, said: “We have all been working in the same situation. We need support.
“We have been thrown into the deep end. It’s been stressful. I cry before and during my shift. Our pay should be in line with everyone else.”
Yvonne Wild has been a nurse since 1981.
This was the first time the Morriston Hospital worker had ever attended a protest.
She said: “I have never done this before, but after the last five or six months we deserve to be recognised.
“We have been put out of our comfort zone. It’s been a hard time.”
Margaret Ritchie has been a nurse for 38 years.
She works in the intensive care unit at Glangwili Hospital and lives in Llanelli.
Talking about the pay rise, which nurses didn’t receive, she said: “It’s hateful and frustrating. We were led to believe that we would be rewarded.
“I earn less money now than I did in 2010. It’s a struggle. I’ve been going to work with a feeling of dread.”
Ahead of the protest a Welsh Government spokesman said: “The Health Minister values the contribution of all our dedicated health and social care workforce in Wales and recognises the challenges they face, particularly during the pandemic.
“In 2018 a three-year pay agreement was implemented for all Agenda for Change NHS staff, including nurses, which includes a higher starting pay and faster progression through pay points.
“While we are not directly responsible for social care staff pay, they have provided exceptional care during the pandemic and in recognition of that contribution we announced a special one-off payment of £500 for all care home and domiciliary care workers.”
The Welsh health workers were joined by thousands of NHS workers in similar protests across the UK.