The government does not think key workers, without whom society would have ground to a halt during the pandemic, are worth rewarding
After the first world war, it was said of the soldiers that they were “lions led by donkeys”, with the donkeys being the uncaring, inept generals responsible for thousands of frontline deaths through callousness. NHS staff lost hundreds of colleagues fighting the virus, often without adequate protective equipment. Ministers who think they only deserve a stingy 1% cash pay rise in England risk being branded Covid donkeys. After a summer when the country clapped for NHS workers, ministers today seem contemptuous of yesterday’s heroes.
There is talk of strike funds being set up, raising the extraordinary prospect of a health service stopping work when the country has yet to escape the pandemic. But it represents a warning about the level of anger engendered by a decade of public sector austerity. The Royal College of Nursing says the pay of an experienced nurse has fallen by 15.3% in real terms over the past 10 years. Such a grievance may not gain much traction in the private sector, where last year workers lost jobs and had their pay cut drastically.
