Hundreds of nurses, cleaners, porters and other NHS workers are to share a record £300m compensation payout following the biggest ever equal pay award, public sector union Unison has claimed.
Around 1,500 workers employed by North Cumbria Acute NHS Trust stand to receive between £35,000 and £200,000 each, according to Unison.
The payouts follow claims for equal pay for work of equal value lodged by the union seven years ago.
The trust said it was still negotiating with the union and described the £300m as “wildly exaggerated”.
The union lodged a claim in 1997, comparing the pay of nurses, catering assistants, domestics, clerical officers, sewing machine assistants, porters and telephonists with those of building labourers, maintenance assistants, supervisors, plumbers and labourers employed by the trust.
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Unison said around 1,500 workers will now be able to claim back pay for up to six years, with some receiving 14 years worth of pay. Interest of between 50% and 60% will also be paid.
The NHS trust said it was still negotiating with staff representatives to resolve long-outstanding equal value pay claims.
