(Bloomberg) -- Health-care workers on the frontline of Sweden's coronavirus crisis will this year get a $620 one-off payment for their efforts in fighting the pandemic.
The bonus forms part of a four-year agreement struck by employers and the labor union Kommunal. The deal, which also entails annual pay rises of 2% this year and next, covers about 400,000 employees in health care and education, including assistant nurses, care assistants and childminders.
“This is a victory for our members,” Kommunal chairman Tobias Baudin said in a statement. “These are real, tangible, wage increases.”
Baudin had asked for more, though, arguing that Sweden's public sector workers should be generously rewarded for their hard work amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the country's virus death rate was among the highest in the world, with about half of the fatalities coming from those in elderly care.
Read More: Sweden Faces Historic Pay Battle for Its Covid Fighters
The end result of the negotiations was largely in line with the pay increases in a benchmark agreement between industrial unions and employers, excluding the onetime reward for Kommunal members.
Employees in the welfare sector “have done important efforts during a very difficult time,” Joakim Larsson, head of negotiations for the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, said in a separate statement.
“It's obvious to us that the staff must be rewarded for their work during the pandemic,” Larsson said.
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