arthur
Very well known Exeweb poster
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2004
- Messages
- 11,754
And as the sane and rational Jeremy Hunt has pointed out, it makes no economic sense. The NHS is understaffed, and paying £5 billion per year to agencies. Simple labour market economics dictates that the price of NHS labour should rise because there's a shortage of it. Compare and contrast to another "heroes" pay dispute a few years ago - the Firefighters' case for a huge pay rise (to offset their reduced earning opportunities because of the 48 hour week Working Time Directive) was slightly undermined by the fact that there were people queuing up to join the Fire ServiceAs regards the 1% NHS pay rise, expect another screeching U turn.
If the government is worried about a higher % offer as it sets a target to be used in later years there is a simple solution. A one off lump sum bonus and make it tax free to basic rate workers