NO PAY RISE FOR NHS STAFF WILL BE THE FINAL STRAW THAT LEAD TO CALLS FOR INDUSTRIAL ACTION SAYS GMB

A tax break to married couples will cost £600m per year compared to £500m per year saved by reneging on the promised pay rise to NHS staff says GMB
GMB, the union for workers in the NHS, responded to news that Government has told the NHS pay review body that it will not honour the promise for an across the board pay rise for NHS staff from 1st April 2014.
Rehana Azam, GMB National Officer for the NHS, said the NHS pay review body is an independent body which receives evidence which then recommends pay rises in the NHS.
You only have to spend time with a paramedic, nurse, theatre porter or any other frontline NHS worker to see their number one priority is to deliver quality care and the best outcomes to patients they care for.
Why then does Jeremy Hunt want to berate and bully staff while they are trying to do a good job often under difficult circumstances. This is just wrong and will not be tolerated.
If the Secretary of State wants to employ bullying employer tactics to dictate to this independent pay review body how pay should be determined in the NHS our response is simple - we will fight this.
Government's attacks on the NHS are already significantly undermining the delivery of care.
GMB members are already totally fed up with this governments cuts to NHS services and jobs which staff recognize put patient wellbeing at risk.
If the Government now wants to attack NHS staff pay while offering tax cuts to married couples it will be the final straw that will lead to calls for industrial action.

Offering a tax break to married couples will cost £600m per year to the Exchequer compared to the £500m per year that could be saved by reneging on the promised pay rise to NHS staff. "