#Covid-19: Good news for workers as Aldi announces a 10% pay rise for its staff

Round of applause!

Aldi has announced, this afternoon, that it will be giving a pay rise to its staff who are working extra hard to stores supplied, shelves stocked and us all fed during the Covid-19 crisis. The 10percent bonus will be backdated to cover hours worked since March 9, and will stay in effect until the end of April. The increased payment will cover Aldi's store and distribution staff for its 142 outlets across the country – amounting to over 3,800 workers. Tesco also announced a similar pay rise for its staff this week. The good news comes just after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addressed the nation at a press conference this afternoon to announce additional measures for social distancing. He also announced an enhanced payment of €350 a week for those who have lost or will lose their jobs as a result of the Coronavirus restrictions. With the numbers of those out of work set to climb substantially as social distancing measures tighten, Aldi also launched a major recruitment drive to secure more staff for its stores across the country. Since the crisis began, the supermarket chain has already pushed back opening hours from 9am-8pm, which it says is to allow for restocking and for staff to get additional rest. And in response to public demand the introduced priority shopping for OAPs and vulnerable people, which run from 11am to 1pm each day.