THE SNP Government was yesterday urged to pay all NHS workers at least £7 per hour – a move that would raise their basic salaries by more than £1,100 per year.
The call was made by the Labour Party, which argued that the move, which would see workers paid more than the £5.72 minimum wage, would boost the economy and could be implemented without cutting frontline services.
The suggestion follows the decis
ion by Steven Purcell, the leader of the Labour-run Glasgow City Council, to become the first Scottish local authority to introduce a minimum wage of £7.
Labour believes the NHS proposal would cost £10m and the cash could be found within £50m of the NHS budget that they claim has been withheld from health boards.
Iain Gray, the Scottish Labour leader, said: "I believe that everyone will benefit from this policy because it can be delivered without taking a single penny from frontline services and putting more money in the pockets of the lowest-paid workers will give a boost to the economy."
Dave Watson, the health union Unison's Scottish organiser, said: "This would be another step forward in Unison's fight for a living wage. It would give a living wage to the final, small groups of low-paid healthcare staff who carry out vital services for us all."
Shadow health secretary Cathy Jamieson said: "If Nicola Sturgeon wanted she could do this tomorrow.
"The financial commitment involved is less than a tenth of 1% of the overall health budget."
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "During just one weekend of their conference Labour announced nearly £100m of extra spending commitments – this would cost millions more, yet their own Labour Government at Westminster is planning to slash Scottish spending by £500m per annum from next year."
The full article contains 306 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
