In Pictures: Protest in the streets for NHS pay rise
Photographs from Lancaster’s NHS pay rise protest.
Yesterday, in Lancaster, Glasgow and London, thousands of NHS workers and ordinary people took to the streets to protest the exclusion of health service staff from a recent pay rise that included around 900,000 public sector workers.
The reason for the exclusion is due to the fact that the health service staff are in the final year of a three-year pay deal. They are due a pay rise next April, but many unions and much of the public wish for the government to show their appreciation to the workers on the front line against COVID-19, and bring the pay rise forward to this year.
David Carr, a critical nurse at St Thomas’s (the hospital that treated Boris Johnson) said staff are “on their knees” following the immense work and stress caused by the pandemic.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve done in my life and we’re all exhausted”. A change.org petition to unfreeze the pay rise has over 335,775 signatories at the time of writing. More than 500 health workers have died due to exposure to the coronavirus.
“We deserve our equal pay”
“Migrants make our NHS. Stop the scapegoating”
“Clapping is not enough”
“Remember the dead and fight for the living!”
“Lives before profit!”
Featured image credited to Tom Morbey.
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