In the fight for fair pay, we need you

In the last few weeks, public sector pay awards in England and Wales have been announced, along with a slightly different government pay offer in Scotland in this issue of Frontline. Physio staff have been offered a £1400 flat rate increase, with a bit more for those at the tops of bands 6/7 to ensure their rises equate to four per cent. 

Health unions in Northern Ireland have written to the minister demanding that the announcement is not held up by the current political stasis. 

It is nowhere near enough. The UK government has ignored the CSP’s longstanding calls for pay to be restored to pre-austerity levels. 

With inflation now at its highest rate for decades, this pay ‘rise’ is a real-terms pay cut. 

Alongside fellow health unions, we have repeatedly warned government – warnings that went ignored – of the implications of failing to invest in the pay of its NHS staff. 

It is not sufficient to stem the loss of staff from the NHS or attract enough new people, at a time when we are facing a workforce recruitment and retention crisis.

For both the Pay Review Body based awards in England and Wales and the direct pay offer in Scotland, the CSP is now coordinating with other health unions to consult with our members over the summer. 

After years of unprecedented demands on members, leaving many feeling profoundly depleted, these pay offers are generating not only disappointment but anger as well.  

It’s time to transform that anger into action. 

As always, consideration of industrial action is our last resort but we cannot rule it out – in fact, recent polling has shown that there is strong public support for an above-inflation pay rise for health workers and also for industrial action should that not be on offer.   

We need a strong member voice. 

The CSP will be sending all affected members an email and electronic vote on the pay proposal. When you receive yours, reply to make your voice heard.