Care workers to get £500 bonus

Portuguese health workers are the latest to get a bonus (50% of basic pay) for their work in working in the emergency situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Netherlands all care workers get €1000 while in Germany so far it has only been workers in eldercare who get a €1500 payment. In Belgium, some health workers are getting €300 while workers in private health and social care in Austria received €500, the same as frontline staff in Bulgaria. In the UK all care workers in Wales have received a payment of €570. In contrast to these lump sums, the COVID-19 payments for health staff

The GPA services union is determined to hold the government to account over the EUR 500 Corona bonus promised to nurses in June. The union joined with other trade unions in successfully calling for the bonus to be extended to other workers but is still concerned that it will not be available to all in the social care sector. However, the GPA is angry that three months on the bonus has not been paid and there is still lack of clarity over who is entitled. The union complains of the lack of respect for the workers who have been exposed to extreme stress and heavy workloads for months and deserve

The ver.di health union has welcomed parliamentary approval of the EUR 1500 COVID-19 bonus for all workers in elder care. This is important to ensure that all regions allocate funding to cover the payments following debate on how the bonus would be funded. Ver.di has also been critical of the private companies in the sector making high profits but unwilling to cover the full cost of the payment. The union says that it is still negotiating a new collective agreement with the BVAP employers’ organisation that it hopes will address the long-standing problem of low pay and poor working conditions