Care workers from across Suffolk are to march through Ipswich at the end of the month to press their case for better pay and conditions in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

The march will be held on November 27 and is organised by the Suffolk branch of UNISON, the public service union.

It is calling for all care workers to be paid the Real Living Wage and to be paid their full wages if they had to self-isolate when sick with Covid. A survey this year found only half got full pay while self-isolating and 11% got no wages at all.

On the day marchers will meet at the New Wolsey Theatre car park from 11.30am and march around the town to a rally at the university, which will include speeches from front line care workers and local trade unionists.

UNISON Suffolk branch secretary Neil Bland said: “Care workers kept services going despite poverty pay and unimaginable stress levels during the peak of the pandemic.

“The clapping may have long stopped but care staff haven’t. They’re still going into care homes or travelling to vulnerable people’s houses every day to care for Suffolk’s most vulnerable residents.