Nurses to hold protest in Glasgow over unequal pay

Nurses and other frontline NHS workers will stage a protest next week after being left out of a public sector pay rise.

Doctors and dentists, along with Armed Forces personnel and other public sector staff, will receive a pay bump of 2.8% this year, the Scottish and UK governments announced.

They say nurses were not included because they have already seen a 2.95% pay increase this year through the three-year “agenda for change” scheme.

But the Nurses Say No! Glasgow group says being left out of the uplift in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic is a “slap in the face”.

Hundreds of protesters are expected gather at 11am on Saturday, August 8, at Glasgow Green.

The group is calling on anyone who “wants to see its workers treated equally and fairly” to attend.

As well as nurses, other NHS staff who will not benefit from the new pay rise include porters and cleaners.

The national NHS Workers Say No! Facebook group has attracted more than 65,000 members since it was launched a week ago.

There will be 25 protests at different locations around the UK over unequal pay and working conditions for NHS staff.

The Nurses Say No! Glasgow group said: “We will be standing, socially distanced and with masks, to protest against the lack of pay parity within the NHS.

“The recent government announcement of a pay rise for teachers, doctors, armed forces personnel and public sectors workers to ‘recognise their efforts on the front line’ excludes a massive number of healthcare workers.

“This announcement is a massive slap in the face, slapped by the hand that once clapped for us.”

It added: “This protest isn’t just for those healthcare workers who have been let down by our government, yet again.

“It’s for anyone who loves and values our NHS and wants to see its workers treated equally and fairly.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “This year nurses received a 2.95% pay rise as part of our three-year NHS agenda for change pay deal, which has delivered a minimum 9% pay increase for most staff, and over 27% for some still moving up their pay scale.

“This is in excess of the 2.8% uplift announced last week for NHS dentists and doctors in England and Scotland.

“We have regular engagement with staff and unions, where all issues related to NHS staff terms and conditions are discussed.

“As we are now in the last year of the three year deal, we are working with NHS unions to agree a timetable to secure a new pay deal for 2021/22.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on those working in our NHS, and we are hugely grateful for the extraordinary hard work, dedication, skill and commitment of all those working in NHS Scotland during this emergency.”