“3% pay rise! better than nothing I guess!” When you talk to your colleagues how do you answer that? A pay rise is a pay rise, right? Sadly not. The chief economist for the Bank of England Andy Haldane has warned of inflation rises over what remains of this year that could take inflation to 4%, according to the Guardian but what does this mean? It means you can rest assured that train fares will be adjusted to something higher. House prices will continue to rise. As will everything else. This all feeds into the 4% figure. Once again NHS staff are encouraged to be like a frog in a pot of water with the temperature steadily increasing. Classic lines such as “Its sheer greed” and “I don’t think any other public sector workers asking for 12.5%” are used to gaslight us into doubting ourselves. Are we being greedy? Is it really a 1% pay cut? After all, they are calling it a pay rise? The answer of course is no we aren’t being greedy. Yes, we know our value and yes this is a pay cut. Yes, we are the only public sector area standing up for a 15% pay rise. Why? It’s because we have the guts to stand up and fight for one. For the past ten years, the rises in train and transport fare prices have year on year exceeded inflation. For the average NHS worker, this means spending less because our pay doesn’t go so far anymore. It means skipping a meal or two so the rest of the family can eat, taking valuables to cash converter to buy it back for more than you sold it to them for, and payday loans when any cash emergency suddenly appears. Of course, some of us aren’t in this position but you very easily could be. Our paycheque is why we come to work. It should be enough to compensate us for our skills, time and be comparative to others in our industry. So when you hear a colleague saying “better than nothing I guess!” you need to wake them up! Tell them that band 1 has been overtaken by the minimum wage. Tell them band 2 is going the same way. Ask them how long can this keep going? We are boiling alive in this pot. It’s time to stand up and demand the pay that we are due!
NHS workers say NO Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/314519933024565/?ref=share
NHS workers say NO Facebook page Cymru
https://www.facebook.com/groups/284604296195934/?ref=share