A major protest calling for a better pay rise for NHS staff is taking place across the country this Saturday - including a march through Bristol city centre.
NHS workers in Bristol are calling on everyone who clapped them on their doorsteps in the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic to join their peaceful protest on Saturday morning.
Nationwide demonstrations are being held by staff across all of the NHS, and by campaigners from the organisation Protect Our NHS, including ten locations in London and in Bristol city centre.
READ MORE: Bristol's nurses explain why they are taking to the streets to protest
Organisers said they will meet at College Green from 11am and will hear speeches before marching at around 11.30am to Castle Park, for more speeches.
The demonstration will be socially-distanced and has been approved by police.
A spokesperson for the rally said: “Seventy-three years ago, despite a war-ravaged economy, the UK created the world’s first universal health service: the NHS.
“Now, the country battles the most serious pandemic in 100 years, with millions on waiting lists, private companies profiting from crony contracts, and tens of thousands of people dying unnecessarily.
“While the NHS is thanked and applauded, it is being starved of real resources. What’s more the NHS was struggling even before the Covid-19 pandemic, following years of government cuts leading to desperate winter crises and 100,000 vacant posts.
“The government's announcement to recommend a one per cent pay increase for all NHS Staff to the Pay Review Body (PRB) has set off a whirlwind of protest and anger,” he added.
Mike Campbell for Protect our NHS, said the march was taking place on the 73rd anniversary of the creation of the NHS.
“On this birthday of the NHS, we show total solidarity with NHS staff,” he said.
“We will ensure that patient safety, NHS privatisation and the government’s woeful handling of the Covid-19 pandemic remain clearly in the public eye,” he added.
Bristol nurse Alex Oldham worked throughout the pandemic and was one of the co-founders of the NHS Workers Say No campaign last summer, when thousands marched through the streets of Bristol calling for a better pay deal for all NHS staff and carers.
“The one per cent ‘offer’ is a disgrace and will ensure that NHS pay continues to lag behind the cost of living,” he said.
“Over the last decade of wage restraint, pay for NHS staff has fallen in real terms by 15-20 per cent, whilst MPs have had eight pay rises over the same period taking their pay from over £60,000 to nearly £82,000,” he added.
The march will be the first of two protests happening in Bristol city centre on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon from 2pm, protests calling for the Government to ‘kill’ its Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, will gather again at College Green.
