NHS workers in Leeds will take to the streets next month to demand a 15 per cent pay rise from the Government.
It comes as thousands marched on Downing Street on Wednesday, in response to the decision to exclude health and care workers from the public sector pay rises.
The Leeds protest will be held on August 8 at 11am from Millenium Square.
Mandy Bellfield, who has worked as a nurse since she was 18-years-old, said the government's decision “feels like a stab in the back.”
On the same day cities nationally will be demanding a 15% pay increase paid from December 1 2020, in order to start recovering a decade of lost wages.
Mandy, 58, said: “I think it’s sad we aren’t recognised for the job we do.
“The government were singing out praise at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and it looked positive, and then it changed all of a sudden. It feels like we’ve been stabbed in the back.
“I’m coming to the end of my career but it’s the younger nurses that need the support and motivation to stay.
“Retaining staff has been the problem over the past few years, and that’s down to the low pay and long working hours.
“I spoke to younger nurses who I work with and the ones I’m friends with on social media. Tensions are high and motivation is low. They feel let down.”
The protest will also be streamed online for people who cannot attend the protests.
The event organisers said: “We are feeling undervalued, demoralised, overworked and exhausted. We have lost 540 of our colleagues to COVID-19 and the fight is not over.
“We are calling on NHS staff and supporters to join us to send a clear message to the government. We do not accept your plans to exclude us from the public sector pay increase, and we will make ourselves heard until you listen.”
For more information about the event, click here.
