The call from 14 union representing nurses, midwives, cleaners and paramedics, came after the government lifted the pay cap for police and prison officers Tolga Akmen / AFP / Getty ImagesA coalition of unions representing more than one million staff in the NHS have written to the chancellor to demand a 3.9 per cent pay rise and a bonus of £800 in a response to falling real-term wages. The call comes after the government pledged to lift the public service pay cap for police and prison officers, handing them at least a 1.7 per cent rise. The 14 unions representing nurses, midwives, cleaners, and paramedics, among others, argue that raising wages would help to plug a chronic staffing gap. The Royal College of Nursing claims that 40,000 posts, one in nine, are currently unfilled. The British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, has not put its name to the letter calling for the rise, which would…

Source: The Times September 15, 2017 08:03 UTC