NHS workers demand better pay in protest in Plymouth
Staff are staging action outside Derriford Hospital as they also call for better safety for patients and to prevent privatisation
NHS workers across the country are holding protests as they call for better pay.
It is understood staff will be outside Derriford Hospital between 11am and 1pm today (Saturday) as they demand that action is taken.
45 events, organised by NHS Workers Say NO!, are taking place to coincide with the NHS' 73rd birthday on the 5th off July.
Campaigners are calling for pay rises, better safety for patients and to end privatisation.
"NHS workers around the country are organising to win a historic pay rise of 15% for all NHS staff. In response to the government's decision not to reward us for our sacrifices during the pandemic, 80,000 workers have joined a campaign Facebook group and thousands of NHS staff took to the streets on August 8th across the country to demand the government pay us what we are worth.
"We are demanding a 15% pay rise for all staff, to be fully funded with new money from the government. We are asking for this because we have all endured a 20% pay cut over the last decade, as inflation reduced the value of our wages.
"The pay deal agreed in 2018 did little to address this, only granting us a measly 1.65% pay rise in 2020, right when we were dealing with the worst of the pandemic!
"A pay rise is vital for everyone as the NHS is struggling to survive with understaffed services. We have over 100,000 vacant posts, forcing the rest of us to struggle with huge workloads. A pay rise would help us recruit more staff, and provide a better, safer service for our patients.
"The government has found money to pay for the pandemic, now they need to find money to pay for the NHS. We are the NHS, and NHS workers are saying together 'enough is enough' and fighting to end the era of low pay and bad conditions which has plagued our health service for years."
NHS Works Say No! campaign group