NHS staff take part in Inverness demonstration to demand pay rise
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Around 200 nurses and other NHS staff in Inverness have taken part in a protest demanding fair pay.
As part of a national campaign, workers are calling for a 15 per cent increase across the board in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nursing staff, cleaners, dental nurses, orderlies and domestic staff were among those who gathered in the city’s Falcon Square on Saturday.
They were not included in a public sector pay rise awarded to doctors, dentists and teachers last month because, the UK government said, they were already seeing rises as part of a previously agreed three-year deal.
Protest organiser Mary Dawson said: “NHS workers have been criminally let down by this government. Despite all our sacrifices, the government has not included us in the pay deal for public sector workers.
“This is not only about nurses’ pay, this is about all the staff in the NHS who have been totally ignored by the government in a demand for a pay rise.
“It is not good enough that we should be on the frontline making sure our community is safe, and yet we are facing another year of a year-on-year pay decrease. More than 540 NHS workers across the UK died as part of the Covid effort – every single one of their lives matter.”
