Industrial action at councils looks set to increase in the coming months following a union freeze on mileage rate negotiations.
The GMB has told its shop stewards at local authorities not to negotiate with employers over mileage rates for employee-owned vehicles.
Brian Strutton, the GMB’s national secretary for public service, said: “We have recently instructed our members not to get involved in negotiations.
“This is because, in many circumstances, the rate would not cover the cost of miles travelled, particularly when having a car is part of a job’s requirement.”
Strutton added there was a request at the national spring pay negotiations by employers to renegotiate the national rate down to HMRC rates.
“We don’t believe the HMRC rate covers the costs involved. Those rates are a tax-free rate,” he said. “There is only one direction of travel with employers’ plans so it’s not worth negotiating.”
While rates vary from council to council, there is a nationally agreed mileage rate for council workers. The top rate for essential car users stands at 50.5p a mile for the first 8500 miles and up to 65p a mile for casual users. The variability of the rates depend on engine size.
Currently, the HMRC rate is 45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p a mile thereafter for employees using their own car on company business.
A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: “Around half of the 372 local authorities are no longer using the NJC [National Joint Council] rates for mileage and have moved to the HMRC rates.
“Mileage negotiations are ongoing across the UK; they are part of the whole remuneration package. It’s about trying to reach a deal that employees like and that employers can afford.
However, he offered no advice to fleet managers within local authorities on how to deal with a union that refused to negotiate: “It’s for individual councils to negotiate. They’ll have to resolve it at a local level.”
Speaking to BusinessCar earlier in the year when the issue of mileage rates negotiations first hit the headlines, Damian James, ACFO chairman, said: “Prudent times call for prudent measures. This has been a gradual process but the cuts have picked up the pace recently.”
Giving advice to fleet managers in the public sector facing the need for cost reductions, James added: “It’s all about communication, and fleet managers have to explain how much mileage payments cost and the savings that are possible for the organisation.”