400k NHS workers on strike...

[RexCathedra]

well that is what faith is all about
proof is not needed!

Blessed are those who do not see, yet still believe.
Thrice blessed are those who make an annual 15% ROI

 

[nicko31]

The cons gave a commitment at their latest conference to increase the tax free threshold to £12k, these bribes have got to be paid for out of already empty coffers. With the government terrified of taking on tax dodging corporations the money can only come from more cuts.

I'm all for cutting the deficit and the debt but we need to get our priorities right.

 

[Dick Head]

Reduce politicians wages and tax cyclists!

Start making motorists pay road tax!

 

[Since1982]

I understand that the 1% is being paid, unless you are a member of staff getting an incremental increase (didn't realise these still exist) which could be up to 3%. Or is my understanding wrong? Happy to be corrected as this is just what I caught on the radio this morning.

 

[beorhthelm]

I understand that the 1% is being paid, unless you are a member of staff getting an incremental increase (didn't realise these still exist) which could be up to 3%. Or is my understanding wrong?

thats it. the union want everyone to get 1% and then those getting progression pay rises get that extra on top. 1% seems small but on NHS scales that hundreds of millions of pounds, or if we want to be practical, thousands of nurses. i wonder what the union would say to that, no pay rise to afford 4-5000 new nurses (about the same number as Miliband said he'd provided isnt it?)

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I went out on strike today. Government are taking the piss. It's bad enough that our t's & c's are constantly being eroded, the 1% was the final insult. As an example, I'd expect most people would expect to get paid some extra for working Christmas Day, not in the ambulance service. I'll be getting the same rate of pay Christmas Day as I would working tomorrow. This has gone on for the past 6 years. It's about time our union stood up, hopefully government will take some notice.

Good luck. You have my support.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

i wonder what the union would say to that, no pay rise to afford 4-5000 new nurses

Emotional blackmail, it's interesting how your mind works.

 

[beorhthelm]

Emotional blackmail, it's interesting how your mind works.

it was simply an interesting proposition because the number/amount involved is very close.

 

[fire&skill]

1% seems small but on NHS scales that hundreds of millions of pounds, or if we want to be practical, thousands of nurses. i wonder what the union would say to that, no pay rise to afford 4-5000 new nurses (about the same number as Miliband said he'd provided isnt it?)

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I understand that the 1% is being paid, unless you are a member of staff getting an incremental increase (didn't realise these still exist) which could be up to 3%. Or is my understanding wrong? Happy to be corrected as this is just what I caught on the radio this morning.

I believe that around 50% of NHS staff get the progression pay rises and if they are up to 3% then I'd suggest it is generous. I'm on the fence with the 1% but not getting paid extra for working Christmas Day is utterly wrong. If you want staff to be away from their families on that day then you bloody well pay for it. Even when I used to work behind a bar on Christmas Day I got triple time and a day off in lieu - it should be the same for NHS staff.

 

[El Presidente]

Interesting to see that the public sector staff involved, many of whom are from working class backgrounds, are being demonised for asking for a 1% pay rise, yet the average FTSE director has had a 21% pay rise this year to £3.34million.

The greatest ability of the rich and privileged is to get the poor and dispossessed to turn on each other, and they do it time after time.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/financia.../FTSE-100-bosses-see-pay-rise-by-a-fifth.html

 

[Marshy]

Reduce the dependency of the NHS on agency staff and use the savings to nurture the staff that the NHS employs directly.

Believe me when I say they are working extremely hard at this.... not an easy thing though

 

[father_and_son]

Fair play to them. Mrs Sock has just qualified. She has to pay £100 a year to be registered as a nurse and an additional £200 to be 'covered'. If she doesn't then her first in paediatric nursing means nothing. Next year the PIN registration rises to £120

Absolutely ridiculous way to treat them

Most professional organisations require an annual subscription to their controlling body, nothing unusual there.

By "covered" I'm assuming that you mean insured. Protection against the crippling financial impact of lawsuit from a disgruntled parent or relative, I'd expect this to be mandatory for anyone in the medical profession (as it is in various other occupations).


Not saying Mrs S shouldn't get enough in her paypacket to cover these, but both are perfectly reasonable expenses to expect someone in such a job to be paying.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

I believe that around 50% of NHS staff get the progression pay rises and if they are up to 3% then I'd suggest it is generous. I'm on the fence with the 1% but not getting paid extra for working Christmas Day is utterly wrong. If you want staff to be away from their families on that day then you bloody well pay for it. Even when I used to work behind a bar on Christmas Day I got triple time and a day off in lieu - it should be the same for NHS staff.

If you assume that inflation is approx 3% (i know it varies from year to year) half the staff are effectively getting a pay cut of 2% a year. That doesn't seem fair to me. I believe all public sector workers should get a pay increase equal to inflation each year.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Reduce the dependency of the NHS on agency staff and use the savings to nurture the staff that the NHS employs directly.

Once again a voice of common sense. The number of extra shifts that get put out to agency staff to cope with shortfalls is ridiculous. My local hospital were offering 100% enhancements last weekend to cover staff shortfalls. How many of these could fund full time positions?

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Fair play to them. Mrs Sock has just qualified. She has to pay £100 a year to be registered as a nurse and an additional £200 to be 'covered'. If she doesn't then her first in paediatric nursing means nothing. Next year the PIN registration rises to £120

Absolutely ridiculous way to treat them

You can now pay the PIN monthly and you may even be able to salary sacrifice it (not sure about that entirely though). The £200 to be "covered", do you mean joining a union? That is optional, i know people who don't have it

 

[Westdene Seagull]

If you assume that inflation is approx 3% (i know it varies from year to year) half the staff are effectively getting a pay cut of 2% a year. That doesn't seem fair to me. I believe all public sector workers should get a pay increase equal to inflation each year.

Which is currently running at 1.2%. It would seem fair to me that all public sector employees have their pay pegged to an index linked increase but the challenge there is how to pay for it ?

 

[Frampler]

The Government have behaved appallingly by rejecting the recommendations of the independent pay review body, and treating progression pay and pay rise as one and the same. They are not - progression pay reflects the advance in skills and competences, whereas pay rises reflect the increase in the cost of living.

So to those NHS staff who have increased their skills (often by undertaking training outside of working hours) the Government is saying "since your pay has gone up, it won't need any adjustment to reflect the increase in the cost of living". When you consider that house prices in the South East have gone up by almost 12% in a year, and NHS workers had already been subject to pay freezes for most of this Parliament, the latest strike seems more than justified. We're going to end up with all the skilled NHS staff - who this country has invested significant sums to train - emigrating to other countries where they are treated with the level of respect and remuneration they deserve.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The Government have behaved appallingly by rejecting the recommendations of the independent pay review body, and treating progression pay and pay rise as one and the same. They are not - progression pay reflects the advance in skills and competences, whereas pay rises reflect the increase in the cost of living.

So to those NHS staff who have increased their skills (often by undertaking training outside of working hours) the Government is saying "since your pay has gone up, it won't need any adjustment to reflect the increase in the cost of living". When you consider that house prices in the South East have gone up by almost 12% in a year, and NHS workers had already been subject to pay freezes for most of this Parliament, the latest strike seems more than justified. We're going to end up with all the skilled NHS staff - who this country has invested significant sums to train - emigrating to other countries where they are treated with the level of respect and remuneration they deserve.

Of course they have, it's what they do to public sector workers. Utterly disgusting, nasty and evil but I expect little else from the Tory party.

 

[Nibble]

Before you even count Google, Starbuck and Amazon the amount of outstanding tax owed to us is £51 Billion pounds per annum. There's your solution right there.