NHS staff fall silent to remember colleagues at pay protest

Hundreds of NHS staff fell silent to remember colleagues lost during the coronavirus pandemic at a protest over pay in Glasgow city centre.

The demonstration was just one of dozens planned across the country in response to a UK Government pay rise announcement which campaigners say excludes “a massive number of healthcare workers”.

Many of those at the demonstration in Glasgow Green held banners and signs along with two-metre lengths of blue ribbon to emphasise social distancing, with action also taking place in Edinburgh on Saturday morning.

Silence: The NHS staff paid tribute to colleagues lost during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Melanie Gale, a senior charge nurse who ran a Covid-positive ward with an “under-staffed hard-working team”, helped organise the event.

She said: “It was scary times not knowing what was happening – we were in the middle of a pandemic and our NHS workers stood on that frontline and gave their all.

“We’re here today to say we have had enough, we deserve our equal pay. It’s ten years of not being given a proper pay increase for the jobs we do.

“I’d like to thank the public, our speakers and everybody else who has come out today. There are 33 cities today protesting about this and I’m just so amazed.”

Government: The dispute is over pay conditions.

Sarah Pirie – a nurse treating Covid-19 patients at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital – read a poem out shortly before the two-minute silence at 12pm.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon also showed her support at the protest, having called for the Scottish Government to begin pay talks with workers.

She told the crowd: “People call you heroes but you don’t have superpowers, you should be getting paid a fair pay for the job that you do, the job that you’re trained to do, your expertise and your skills – not just a pat on the back or a clap on the doorstep every week.

“We need to make sure that your work continues to be recognised and properly remunerated, so you have our full support. Warm words don’t pay the bills – we need to get these pay talks under way.

“We know in the months ahead we’re going to have a very difficult winter on our hands. Aside from Covid pressures there’s all the other pressures that are on the NHS.

“It’s very poignant to be here to stand amongst you, our healthcare workers, because you have lost some of your own in this battle.”