900,000 UK public workers get a pay hike

British public sector workers are getting a pay rise in recognition for their work during the pandemic -- but nurses are not included. 

The UK government announced Tuesday that it will give above-inflation pay rises to 900,000 public workers including teachers, police officers, doctors and dentists, and senior civil servants, reports CNN. 

Teachers will get the highest rise at 3.1%, while doctors can expect a 2.8% hike, the government said. It added that the two groups will get the biggest pay hikes in recognition of “their efforts on the frontline during the battle against COVID-19.”

In the announcement, the government said nurses and other health care workers are excluded from the pay rises, because their salaries have already been boosted under a three-year deal agreed in 2018. That argument did not go down well with nurses and their supporters.

Laura Duffell, a matron nurse at the King's College Hospital in London said she and her colleagues were left in shock at Tuesday's announcement that nurses won't be included in the pay rises. "If anything, we thought we'd be on top of the list," she said. "You can feel the severe disappointment ... it's almost proving to us that we're not as appreciated as we had hoped."

Earlier this month, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), a nurses’ trade union, sent an open letter to the the UK treasury chief Rishi Sunak, demanding more money for nurses. It said that the deal agreed in 2018 was “a start after years of pay capping and freezes but did not restore the value lost over a longer period. More must now be done.” 

Many nurses and their supporters complained on Twitter about the government encouraging the public to applaud for health care workers every Thursday during the peak of the pandemic, but stopping short of delivering an actual pay rise. 

"The clapping that keeps being referred to as a show of the appreciation for nurses in the NHS. I think it has almost left really bitter taste in people's mouths now," Duffell said. She added:

"It's almost like, well, that's what you deserve, you know, here you go, have a nice clap. That's obviously gonna put food on your table. It's gonna make up for the fact that you're going to food banks and it's gonna make up to the fact that you're working 90-hour weeks when actually you're not paid to do so. That's gonna make up for, you know, all the trauma that you've endured over the last three months, of seeing multiple people pass away over space of one shift."

Nurses' salaries start just below £25,000 ($30,000) a year in the UK. That's about £5,000 ($6,000) below the country’s median salary. With more experience, pay for most can rise to around £37,000 a year. 

"The applause and kind words were a short-term morale boost for many health workers, but now it is time to begin these pay discussions without delay," the union said in the letter.

The union added that the low pay is a major reason for many to leave the profession. Last week, the RCN released a survey that said that 36% of nurses are considering quitting -- a big jump from the 27% last year.

The union said that of those thinking of leaving, 61% said pay is a factor, while 44% said they consider quitting because of the way they were treated during the pandemic.

The UK cannot afford to lose nurses -- there are currently around 40,000 nursing vacancies in England alone.