Tuesday, 19 March 2024

Liberty & Nation Says Scrap The Cap!

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Liberty & Nation Says Scrap The Cap!

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THE NATIONAL LIBERAL PARTY has long campaigned against the Tory 1% pay cap imposed on Britain’s public sector workers. Indeed, over the past year we’ve produced several special e-posters to highlight the plight of nurses, paramedics and other NHS workers.


In March of this year, health workers got the news that they would get a 6.5% pay rise over three years. This would work out at 3% in 2018-19 and then 1.7 percent in both of the following years. They would also get a 1.1% lump sum in the second year. Those at the very bottom of the NHS pay scale would get a higher increase.

This news was applauded by many, but we need to look beyond the headlines to get the full picture. With this in mind, we quote from the Scrap The Cap Facebook site – https://www.facebook.com/ScrapTheCapNHS/posts/1926224284263746 – which has long argued that the pay cap has effectively served as a pay cut for workers in the National Health Service:

‘In an age of pay restraint which has lasted longer than World War II, the real value of our salaries has fallen by over 14% since 2010. It is little wonder that there are more than 78,000 vacancies in NHS England alone.

This is unsustainable.

It is clear that the government is not listening. Despite the attempts of trade union negotiators, the Department of Health has stuck to its guns in refusing to scrap the 1% pay cap.

We call on all our health unions to ballot their members over this derisory 1% pay offer. While taking industrial action is a last resort, given the lack of movement from the government, we feel that we have reached that point.

Some of us are turning to food banks and pay day loans just to make ends meet. As the service staggers from one crisis to the next, staff shortages are plugged by underpaid workers picking up extra shifts.

We cannot go on like this.

If we want to stand up for the service, we must also stand up for ourselves.’

Although this was obviously written before the pay increase announcement in March, we feel that the above text provides valuable context and explains why NHS staff were so opposed to this particular Tory policy.

Many Health Care workers are in two minds about the Tory offer.

On the one hand there’s enormous relief that the government has seen sense. It has seemingly acknowledged the worth and value of NHS workers and has seen fit (in financial terms) to recognise this. Indeed, some unions like Unison have recommended that staff accept the offer – http://www.unison-scotland.org/2018/06/25/unison-scotland-recommends-yes-vote-in-nhs-pay-offer/ – and will announce the result of the vote sometime after the middle of next month.

On the other hand, some folks smell a rat. Unsurprisingly they wouldn’t trust Theresa May (or any other Tory for that matter!) as far as they could throw her. They’re wondering if this pay award will come with strings attached, such as extra work or a change in working conditions. Indeed, will the government give with one hand and take away with the other?

For the moment the jury is out. However, one thing is clear to Liberty & Nation – the voice of the National Liberal Party – and that’s the National Health Service is not safe in the hands of the Tories. The vast majority of Britons deeply appreciate the NHS. They still want it to be ‘free at the point of delivery.’

However, others don’t share this view and regard the NHS as a potential future cash cow – especially if many services are Privatised. These people have no love or loyalty for either their people or nation. They only love themselves and their only loyalty is to money.

It is against this background that the National Health Service recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. If the NHS is to survive another 70 years everyone both the general public and NHS workers will have to remain vigilant.

• Also check out:

From The Liberty Wall – National Liberal Trade Unionists – Scrap The Cap! http://nationalliberal.org/from-the-liberty-wall-national-liberal-trade-unionists-%e2%80%93-scrap-the-cap

Caledonian Voice Says Scrap The Pay Cap For Scottish Public Sector Workers! http://nationalliberal.org/caledonian-voice-says-scrap-the-pay-cap-for-scottish-public-sector-workers

English Voice Says Scrap The Pay Cap For English Public Sector Workers! http://nationalliberal.org/english-voice-says-scrap-the-pay-cap-for-english-public-sector-workers

Ulster Voice Says Scrap The Pay Cap For Ulster’s Public Sector Workers! http://nationalliberal.org/ulster-voice-says-scrap-the-pay-cap-for-ulster%e2%80%99s-public-sector-workers

Welsh Voice Says Scrap The Pay Cap For Welsh Public Sector Workers! http://nationalliberal.org/welsh-voice-says-scrap-the-pay-cap-for-welsh-public-sector-workers

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