Hospital to pay Covid bonuses after worker strike

More than 130 hospital workers were on strike for over two weeks

A hospital has agreed to pay bonuses to more than 130 of its workers to recognise what they did during the Covid-19 pandemic after they went on strike for more than two weeks.

Porters, cleaners and caterers at Royal Liverpool University Hospital missed out on one-off payments promised to health workers last year because they were not directly employed by the NHS.

The union representing the workers, GMB, said the walkout ended after the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust agreed to pay the lump sum.

The trust said it was "pleased to be able to provide our colleagues with the outcome they sought".

It added: "Throughout this dispute we have been keen to value and recognise the important contributions our colleagues make towards patient care."

GMB senior organiser Kerry Nash said: “Our members have stuck together to fight for what they rightly deserve.

"Receiving the payment for them was about respecting their roles and the contributions they made to support patient care."

She added: "All health workers who put their lives on the line during the pandemic deserve this payment and now, thankfully, our members will get it too."

A spokesperson for NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group said: “We are pleased to be able to provide our colleagues with the outcome they sought and would like to thank all partners involved in finding this resolution.

"Throughout this dispute we have been keen to value and recognise the important contributions our colleagues make towards patient care."