NHS workers on the march
PEOPLE gathered in Coventry on Saturday to demand higher wages for NHS staff.
The protesters marched, shouting slogans and waved placards, before gathering around the Godiva statue to listen to speeches.
The protest comes after nurses and NHS staff were left out of a pay rise for public sector workers announced recently by the government.
Almost a million people, including doctors, teachers and police officers, will get a pay rise but nurses and other NHS staff will not.
One person, speaking to the crowd at the protest, described the situation as “absolutely shameful”.
Dozens gathered, defying soaring temperatures in Coventry, to call on the government to reverse the decision and give nurses and NHS staff a pay rise.
Many speakers and people waving placards made the point that the decision to leave nurses out of the pay rise is particularly galling in the wake of their sacrifices during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A minute’s silence was held after the speeches in memory of those who died as a result of the disease.
Placards were seen with slogans such as ‘You can’t mask the facts, pay and skills don’t match’ while protesters chanted calls for fair pay and to ‘keep the NHS alive’ as they headed from Swanswell Park to Broadgate.
One women addressing the crowd in a speech said: “It is absolutely shameful. We made aprons out of bin bags because we couldn’t get PPE.”
The crowd applauded her. The pay rise for public sector workers was announced by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor. Those eligible will get a pay rise of 3.1 per cent.
But in 2018 a three-year deal was struck called Agenda for Change, which covers nurses and other NHS staff such as porters and cleaners - so these people are not eligible for the new pay rise.