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Nurses and health unions fight on

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RCN, Scrap the Cap, 1 per cent, pay rise, inflation, no job cuts, vote, parliament, 14 health unions, Scrap the 1 per cent pay cap, match wage increases to inflation and restore lost pay.

The Royal College of Nursing has vowed to continue fighting for the cap on NHS pay to be scrapped.

A heated debate in the House of Commons last week resulted in the government backing away from a vote which called on the Conservatives to end the public sector pay cap in the NHS.

During the debate, put forward by the Labour Party, passionate speeches in support of ending the 1 per cent pay cap were made by MPs from all political parties.

Many made reference to the compelling statistics provided by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the nurses’ union, on the impact of the ongoing pay restraint on recruitment, retention and morale.

But the government has only said there will be greater ‘flexibility’ with regards to public sector pay rises ‘next year’.

And NHS staff unions said that ministers agreeing to give police officers a 1 per cent rise plus a 1 per cent bonus, and prison officers a 1.7 per cent rise – both funded from existing budgets – still represented a pay cut.

The Royal College of Nursing, along with 13 further NHS trade unions, representing over one million nurses and a wide range of staff including nurses, midwifes, cleaners, porters, pharmacists, paramedics and dental technicians, is now calling on the UK government not only to scrap the 1 per cent pay cap, but match wage increases to inflation and restore lost pay.

The group said that by insisting that there can be no pay offer over 1 per cent government ministers have been interfering in the normal pay setting process for NHS staff since 2012.

So as well as matching inflation, the unions are now asking for an additional £800 consolidated lump sum for all staff to make up for the years of lost pay.

And in addition, the unions are calling for the pay award to be fully funded, with no cuts to services or jobs to be made to pay for it.

This will help to secure the future of the NHS by making it a more attractive place to work – and recruiting and retaining staff will in turn alleviate the nursing shortage and workload pressures and help make care safe and effective.

And you can help: please sign and share this petition calling for the government to Pay Up Now! – Scrap the pay cap and give public servants a meaningful pay rise.

Every single person who works in public services needs and deserve a pay rise. It’s time for the pay cap to be scrapped, for the government to provide additional funding for public sector pay – and for employers to put public sector workers pay up now.

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