It comes as no surprise that research has demonstrated that public sector workers have experienced deep pay cuts in real terms (Scale of public sector salary cuts revealed, 4 July), and it is time that the government recognised this and lifted the pay cap. The chancellor insists he will not change direction and talks about fairness between workers and taxpayers. Leaving aside the fact that public sector workers are themselves taxpayers, it is clear that the burden of balancing the books has fallen disproportionately on some sections of society, and that “fairness” does not adequately describe the present situation. The government must urgently re-examine its tax and spend policies in order to redress this, or we risk seeing public services collapse as droves of public sector workers are forced to leave their jobs in search of adequate pay.
Jonathan Wallace
Newcastle upon Tyne
• First Nicky Morgan, then Heidi Allen, and now a slew of cabinet members are opposing the government cap on public sector pay. Let’s not forget that even when her government had a majority of 17, Theresa May couldn’t get her grammar schools policy through parliament, she had to withdraw tax increases for the self-employed, and previously Osborne and Cameron (remember them?) had to withdraw plans for cuts to tax credits. May might be able to have a confidence and supply deal to try for a majority with the DUP, but she can’t guarantee the same with her own party. That is why she and her government will have a short life.
Cllr Barry Kushner
Labour, Liverpool city council
• I was one of many thousands who marched in protest at Tory party policies on Saturday. The public sector pay cap was one the big issues, but it will only be scrapped under a Labour government. Boris Johnson is cynically trying to boost his popularity in pursuit of the Tory party leadership. I fear that if any concessions are made on public sector pay they will be selective, in the hope of keeping one section of the NHS workforce happy. Divide and rule must be resisted. The pay cap is having a devastating effect on all public sector workers. A member of my family is one of the army of non-medical NHS staff, organising appointments and clinics, liaising with patients and staff – ie keeping the whole show on the road. The salary is £18,000. The department manager earns less than the national average wage. This is no joke in a place like Winchester with a dire shortage of affordable housing and astronomical private rents. The Tories simply don’t get it. The Labour party, under Jeremy Corbyn, do.
Karen Barratt
Winchester
• What is frightening about the NHS is the fact that it has been allowed to get into this state. Current headlines are all about stress, overwork, closures and going on strike, while the government is intent on selling off as much as possible and shopping around to try to employ cheap foreign labour. Recruitment is falling across the board, no matter how many more are trained, because only the most dedicated want to work in a service like that, and proposing to force graduates to work in it for years after they finish training can only reduce the number of students. A grudging pay rise which could be withdrawn at any time is unlikely to solve the problem. What we want is a service owned by the public and its staff, in which they can take pride and which aims to be the best in the world again. People would be prepared to pay for it provided that the increase in taxation would be spent on this service rather than on other government priorities.
Dr Richard Turner
Harrogate
• I am dismayed by the cap on pay increases for nurses, firefighters, ambulance drivers and other workers who work hard to keep this country going. They are dedicated and often brave in carrying out these tasks, compared to many in the private sector, who are often in it for what they can get out of it. I would be more than happy to pay a higher tax to enable the cap to be lifted. I cannot be the only person to feel this.
Pat Brandwood
Broadstone, Dorset
• Social workers should also be added to the list of those underpaid in the public sector (Don’t leave dustmen out of the pay debate, Letters, 3 July).
I’m married to a retired social worker and saw at one remove the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” hazards of a job undervalued and underresourced. The majority of us may never need the services of social workers – one reason for them being overlooked in debates about wages in the caring professions, I believe.
However, the level of responsibility required in decision-making that will often have far-reaching and possibly life-changing consequences – especially in child protection and matters relating to children and families – is equal to that of doctors, teachers, nurses etc.
Care of the vulnerable in society deserves as much recognition as those rightly valued professions.
Jonathan Newth
Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
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