NHS pay protests break out from Glasgow to London

The demonstration was just one of dozens planned across the country in response to a UK Government pay rise announcement which campaigners say excludes "a massive number of healthcare workers".

Health service staff were excluded from the wage increase for around 900,000 public sector workers announced a couple of weeks ago because they are in the final year of a three-year pay deal.

Instead they are due a pay rise next April, but unions want the Government to show its appreciation for NHS staff by bringing it forward to this year.

Many of those at the demonstration in Glasgow Green held banners and signs along with two-metre lengths of blue ribbon to emphasise social distancing, with action also taking place in Edinburgh on Saturday morning.

Signs read "Enough empty praise, geez a fair raise", "Covid hero pay rise zero", and "Who saved you Boris?".

Melanie Gale, a senior charge nurse who ran a Covid-positive ward with an "under-staffed hard-working team", helped organise the event.

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She told the PA news agency: "It was scary times not knowing what was happening - we were in the middle of a pandemic and our NHS workers stood on that front line and gave their all.

"I saw on Facebook we needed to organise for Glasgow and I knew how big this was going to be.

"They're an amazing bunch of people that have all got together, all the organisers, to make today happen in two weeks.

"We're here today to say we have had enough, we deserve our equal pay. It's 10 years of not being given a proper pay increase for the jobs we do.

"I'd like to thank the public, our speakers and everybody else who has come out today. There are 33 cities today protesting about this and I'm just so amazed."

Sarah Pirie - a nurse treating Covid-19 patients at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital - read a poem out shortly before the two-minute silence at 12pm.

Before the poem, Scottish Labour health spokesperson Monica Lennon also showed her support at the protest having called for the Scottish Government to begin pay talks with workers.

She told the crowd: "People call you heroes but you don't have superpowers, you should be getting paid a fair pay for the job that you do, the job that you're trained to do, your expertise and your skills - not just a pat in the back or a clap on the doorstep every week.

"We need to make sure that your work continues to be recognised and properly remunerated so you have our full support. Warm words don't pay the bills - we need to get these pay talks under way.

"We know in the months ahead we're going to have a very difficult winter on our hands. Aside from Covid pressures there's all the other pressures that are on the NHS.

"It's very poignant to be here to stand amongst you our healthcare workers because you have lost some of your own in this battle."

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Stuart McKenzie, a mental health nurse from the west of Scotland, also spoke to the crowd with an impassioned speech.

He told PA he was "blown away" by the response "having struggled with coming because you know we need to keep people safe".

McKenzie said: "My experiences have been very much from managing and coordinating services and seeing the challenges and struggles that were in place.

"It's imperative that there's a voice around this and as many voices are heard as possible, this doesn't just affect one or two groups in the NHS, this affects everybody.

"The importance of the matter is we have to make a stand ... it can't be one union, it has to be them all.

"We need to have a collective and combined voice."

Meanwhile, in London, health workers who have missed out on a public sector pay rise also fell silent for two minutes as a mark of respect for colleagues who have lost their lives fighting Covid-19.

Marchers were applauded by members of the public as they headed to Downing Street and chants of "Boris Johnson hear us shout, pay us properly or get out" were directed towards Number 10.

One of dozens of marches planned around the country for Saturday, participants in the capital - many in scrubs - were wearing masks and tried to constantly maintain a social distance from one another.

Dave Carr, a critical care nurse at St Thomas' - the hospital which treated Prime Minister Boris Johnson - said staff are "on their knees" following months of hard work tackling the pandemic.

Speaking in London, Carr told the PA news agency: "I've got 21 years working in critical care and for me that experience was tough.

"I was drained, wearing all the PPE, incredibly long shifts.

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"It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and we're all exhausted."

He said "there's a lot of PTSD around" among colleagues and that many are worried about the possibility of a second wave.

Carr added: "We can't do the job any more, we had to shut down the NHS to fight Covid and now we're expected to just turn it back on.

"We're on our knees, absolutely on our knees. And on top of it they give 900,000 public sector workers a pay rise - and I haven't got a problem with that - but they carve us out.

"I'm absolutely fuming. Tired and fuming."