Oban NHS staff in ‘virtual’ pay demo
Unison members across the Oban area took part in a ‘virtual demo’ on Tuesday as part of a national demonstration about NHS pay.
The online ‘Pay Up Now’ event – with members asked to post selfies which read ‘Clapping doesn’t pay our bills’ – coincided with socially-distanced demonstrations outside hospitals in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, and Raigmore, Inverness.
It follows union criticisms of the Scottish Government’s ‘refusal’ to sit down and discuss a pay rise for all NHS workers, according to Unison, which wants talks opened on a threeyear pay deal.
Britt Doughty-Godchaux, Argyll and Bute Unison convenor at Lorn and Islands Hospital, Oban, said pay was an essential issue for members.
She said it was a ‘pressure point’ because the NHS was being ‘depleted of talent’ and the pressure, culture and low pay created ‘untenable conditions’.
Healthcare workers across the board, including those who cleaned and maintained facilities, nurses and those working in data, had been in the spotlight during the pandemic, she said.
‘It seems ironic then that over the last decade these same workers have had year-onyear real term pay cuts made worse with Covid-associated expenses. Without question, NHS workers have performed heroically during this time, so it seems to pay them fairly for the work they do should also be done without question.’
Unison’s ‘Pay Up Now’ campaign is thanking the public and asking them for their continued support for a NHS pay rise.
Tom Waterson, chairman of Unison Scotland Health Committee, said: ‘The reality is that NHS workers have seen their pay eroded over the past decade and some NHS staff are among the lowest paid in Scotland.
‘So please continue your support for NHS workers. They deserve it.’