Around 100 social workers employed by the Isle of Wight Council are expected to take part in a march tomorrow morning to highlight the beginning of a dispute over changes to their car allowance.

The march will start from County Hall at 9am and those affected will be heading to the Football Club in Newport.

The industrial action has been sparked by cuts to staff payments for using their own cars to do Council work.

We’re told that that 157 UNISON members voted to take industrial action against the council’s new ‘essential car user allowance policy’.

We understand that the new scheme means that staff are only able to claim if they drive more than 6000 miles a year on council business.

UNISON tell us that they want the new scheme to take into consideration frequency of use, but that management are refusing to discuss this.

They go on to say that from tomorrow council staff who are usually expected to use their own cars to do council business will only use either public transport or pool cars (if available) for council business.

Andy Straker, Unison Regional Organiser said “Council workers currently use their own vehicles to travel around the island serving the local community. It is only fair that they are reimbursed at a fair rate for the fuel costs and wear and tear on their own vehicles.”

Update 1
In response to the action Steve Beynon, IW Council chief executive, said: “The council has reviewed the car allowance scheme to make it more equitable and consistent across the authority and to remove the automatic payment of allowances – with what is public money – to some staff whose work simply did not require them to be essential car users.

“This was done against the backdrop of a need to find considerable efficiency savings across the authority and, in so doing, keeping service and staff reductions to a minimum.

“It is estimated the review will yield savings of around £320,000 which would otherwise have to be met from other areas such as those above.

“It should be noted that after the review, everyone who uses their car for council business can still claim mileage – in most cases 47.7p which is in line with NJC*guidelines – for each mile travelled. No staff member is expected to use their car for work businesses without fair recompense and I am sure most people would agree this mileage payment received is indeed a fair recompense for such travel. In addition, those who need to travel 6,000 miles a year – on council business still qualify for the essential users allowance lump sum. Furthermore, the review has resulted in around 40 employees, the majority of which are in the lower paid jobs such as home care, qualifying for the allowance as well as mileage, an issue which interestingly had not been championed by Unison.

“Since the review was announced, some staff have made representations through the appeals procedure put in place and as a result it has been decided an increased mileage rate will be paid to some employees – such as occupational health workers – who are required to carry equipment as part of their work

“The essential users allowance should be neither a perk nor a means of topping up a salary. There are existing mechanisms through which staff can pursue a case for salary increases and in at least one area of traditional lower pay – social work – we are currently undertaking a fundamental salary review. These, rather than an inconsistently and sometimes inappropriately applied car allowance payment, are the appropriate ways of tackling issues of low pay.

“Unison is well aware of the budget pressures the council faces and has been aware of the car allowance review for many months. It has however failed to come up with its own suggestions as to how the scheme could be modified to achieve the required saving or indeed suggest other areas where this saving could be found. If Unison has now formulated proposals that will achieve this then we will be happy to have discussions but until such proposals are forthcoming there seems to be little to value in convening another meeting on top of the regular cycle.

“In all the circumstances, the action by Unison is disappointing as is its claim we have been reluctant to discuss the issue. We will of course strive to ensure the effects of this action do not however impinge on services to the public.”

Image: Glastonbury Left Field under CC BY-SA 2.0

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