Actually, we'd be arguing that NHS salaries should decrease

The claim here is fine, of course it is, unions exist to better their members at the expense of everyone else. So, this is just unions doing their job:

Unions representing more than 1.3 million NHS workers have written to the government calling for talks to begin on a pay rise to take effect before the end of the year to reflect the efforts of staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

In letters sent to the prime minister and the chancellor on Friday, as the nation prepares to give thanks to the NHS on its 72nd birthday, the 14 unions say the government should build on the huge public support for staff during the Covid-19 crisis and deliver an early pay rise.

Economic reality argues in favour of significant pay cuts though. The current best guess is that GDP has decreased by some 20% or so. That means that the aggregate incomes of all in the country - GDP is equal to all incomes by definition - have fallen by 20%. It seems fair that all should partake of this pain therefore the default position is that all public sector workers, the NHS Angels included, should have a 20% pay cut.

Quite possibly more than that in fact. Private sector workers are at considerable risk of being laid off, seeing their pay reduce to zero. This is not a risk being faced by anyone in the NHS. That job security is now worth more as part of the total compensation for the job, isn’t it?

Of course, resetting public sector pay to fit the new economic reality isn’t going to happen, even if it should. But pointing out that reality is still necessary, even if only to highlight how absurd these demands for further rises are.

After all, think on it, we’re all 20% poorer, why shouldn’t they be?