Trade union GMB has published a scathing report attacking Barchester Healthcare’s use of Covid-19 grants, on the day the care giant derecognised the union.

The decision to derecognise the union was taken by Barchester in September 2021, due to the chain “fundamentally disagreeing” with some of the policies promoted by the union pertaining to mandatory vaccination against Covid-19.

Barchester’s strong stance on Covid-19 vaccination led to the release of a statement saying: “The safety of our residents is, and must always be our number one priority… We can guarantee that disaffiliation will not result in lower working conditions for our colleagues, as is demonstrated in the large proportion of our homes who also do not have union recognition.”

Barchester’s statement added that the decision to derecognise the union only applies to a very small number of services previously operated by Four Seasons Health Care following their fall into administration, which were acquired and then supported by Barchester, with the company deducting GMB Union fees from less than 20 employees out of over 16,000 members of staff.

The care home chain announced an additional £8.1 million in remuneration of staff and said it was committed to providing premium working conditions and sector-leading benefits for workers, paying staff three additional Covid-related bonuses in 2020/21 to thank them for their work. Barchester added that none of these bonuses or remuneration packages was prompted or influenced by the unions.

On the day of the derecognition, trade union GMB alleged that Barchester received £26 million in Covid-19 grants and that directors also received £7 million in payment in the year ending December 2020.

“The UK’s care sector relies on gross injustice to generate bloated profits for shadowy private companies,” said GMB lead organiser Rachel Fagan.