Letter: Don’t Just Clap, Pay More

Published on: 28 Apr, 2020
Updated on: 28 Apr, 2020

From Peta Malthouse

In response to: Let’s Appreciate Our Care Homes Staff

Frankly, I feel as if I have been banging on for far too long about the appalling levels of pay Guildford Borough pays to it manual, technical and professional staff.

Surprise, surprise, they turn out to be the glue that holds us together, the people that do the essential work we need to keep “society” running while we all sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labours.
“Key worker” was a term in the Seventies and Eighties that used to command respect. Public service was honourable. Then, somehow, jobs weren’t valued unless you could see a profit and councils were criticised unless they could be run like a business. But they are a business, one which possesses our community assets, things owned by us for community benefit now sold off to provide revenue.

Care staff earn about £8.50 an hour I believe and dustmen very little more despite very unsocial hours and hard physical work having to deal with our waste.

Then there is the fire service which is still suffering cuts. One has to question how many lives are being lost and property damage caused by slower response times.

So don’t just clap, pay more. Shared between us all it won’t cost much extra.