“We should be taxing the rich who have profited off the back of this pandemic, not increasing tax for some of the lowest paid workers in the country who have literally risked theirs and their families lives for the past year”
By Holly Turner, NHS Workers Say No
As an NHS nurse I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the dangerously low staffing levels.
For a decade we have been struggling to fill shifts and it’s just continued to get worse – leaving us dangerously underprepared for the pandemic – and leaving us dealing with the consequences for years to come. Colleagues are leaving in droves and the implication of this affects us all, because we know this translates to poor patient care and dangerously high waiting list and we know that gives a free pass to the Tories to dress them up as failing services and palm them off to the rich elite.
It’s clear the government has no intention of investing in the NHS and its staff and that is why we have privatisation happening. Now NHS workers are currently in a fight for our pay. Pay is one of the levers and that’s why we really need to fight this battle.
We were offered an insulting 3% which actually represents further restraint after years of cuts to our pay. Our unions are currently balloting so please return your ballot and vote to reject the offer.
Now we’ve seen this hike in our national insurance and adding the rate of inflation this makes our pay rise even less.
Health and social care should be government funded and we should be taxing the rich who have profited off the back of this pandemic, not increasing tax for some of the lowest paid workers in the country who have literally risked theirs and their families lives for the past year to keep this country going.
Now we have the new Health and Care Bill opening the door to privatisation and will do nothing to solve the real problems of the NHS, which is lack of resources and staff. We must be united in opposing this bill – unite across the labour movement, supporting grassroots organisations to mobilise, organise and fight for our services, protect our frontline workers and support the most vulnerable in our society.
- Holly Turner is an NHS nurse and an activist for NHS workers Say No! You can follow her on twitter here.
- Show your support for NHS Workers Say No! on Facebook here and on twitter here.
- This article is reproduced from the Labour Outlook Autumn update, read it in full here.
