DTUC demands extension of £500 thank you to all front line workers

Niall McCarroll, DTUC chair, made the call after Mr. Swann said every health and social care worker in the north will receive the £500 recognition payment for their ‘heroic work’ fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doctors, nurses, care home workers, domiciliary care workers, administrative staff and estates teams are set to benefit, subject to approval from the Department of Finance.

Mr. McCarroll said all front line workers should receive the payment.

The Derry trade unionist said he feared many frontline workers have been excluded from the thank you payment.

He said this has left many such workers feeling ‘disillusioned and undervalued’.

“When we collectively braced ourselves for the arrival of COVID-19 - this group of now it seems forgotten workers left their homes, entered the unknown and put their lives at risk, doing so, for all of us,” he said.

Mr. McCarroll added: “Surely, a community worker delivering food parcels to an at risk member of the community, a classroom assistant taking responsibility for the children of key workers or a supported living worker meeting the needs of a homeless person are as deserving of a thank you from government as any other worker, who through their actions, protected others and ensured that the fight against COVID-19 was effective and could be sustained.

“Unfortunately, it seems no such thank you will be afforded to essential frontline workers in the Community and Voluntary or Education sectors. These workers should also be considered for any one off thank you payment from the Stormont Executive.

“Derry TUC are of the position that all essential, frontline workers should be awarded a £500 thank you payment and that no worker should be left feeling forgotten and less worthy.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Officials are finalising the details of the £500 one off payment to staff, which we will publish on the Department’s website as soon as possible.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “There are currently no plans to make a special £500 payment to education sector staff.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Communities said the issue was matter for the Department of Health.