TUC blasts 'Scrooge-like' public sector pay cap
Nurses, firefighters and police who will be working on Christmas Day have seen their real terms pay fall – while MPs award themselves a pay rise.
A new study by the Trades Union Congress said NHS nurses’ pay was down £2,600 compared to five years ago. Police officers are earning £1,300 less while midwives are down £3,300.
It comes as MPs are set to receive a thousand pound pay rise in April, bringing their salaries up to £76,000 – more than double the average income.
Around 900,000 people in total work on Christmas Day according to the TUC, which blamed the loss of earnings on the government’s ‘Scrooge-like’ public sector pay cap.
General secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“For most of us, Christmas is a well-earned break from the daily grind. But nearly a million people will be working on Christmas Day this year.
Many of those keeping our streets safe and providing emergency care have seen their pay fall sharply over the past five years.
Ministers should show some seasonal goodwill and end the real terms pay cuts.
The government’s Scrooge-like public sector pay cap has to go, to ensure that wages at least keep up with prices.”
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis commented:
“Every year emergency service workers put their lives on hold so the rest of us can enjoy the festive season.
Yet they continue to be paid well below their worth by a government that sees the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
A decent pay rise this year would be a great Christmas present for selfless staff who ministers have taken for granted for far too long.”
A spokesperson for the Treasury said: ‘The Government has made difficult decisions on public sector pay to maintain fiscal discipline and protect public sector jobs.
Adam Barnett is staff writer for Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter @AdamBarnett13
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One Response to “Nurses working on Christmas see wages fall – while MPs get a pay rise”
Robert Levy
Since 2010 the pay of nurses and midwives has been radically slashed in real terms .
Additionally these have been forced to pay more into their pension pot .
There has at the same time been an increase in under staffing as record numbers of (experienced ) staff have left the service and record numbers have gone off work with stress. The pay and the staffing numbers might have decreased but the work hasn’t . Of course less staff equals more work anyway but additional to this increase in workload the decade prior to 2016 saw a dramatic increase in patients going to A&E: in fact a rise of 400,000 in a decade . https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/17/nurses-nhs-stress-leave-staff-breaking-point.
Doctors ,nurses and midwives join the profession due to a commitment to helping others ..but even these have a breaking point .
The NHS is at crisis point now but it is only being held together by the remaining staff who are performing miracles .At some point the service could collapse completely .
The ConDem /Tory governments have created this crisis through underfunding and underpay .
It is a national disgrace that nurses and midwives are paid so little and yet so much is asked of them .
MPs and senior healthcare directors seem to be doing ok though.
There are similar stories among ambulance staff too as pay has declined for ambulance workers but increased for directors. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/health/fat-cat-ambulance-chiefs-accused-in-row-1-6877385
Britain is suffering from a failure to value and protect it’s very best and most caring employees and the vital services which we all rely upon .