By UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan
Today I joined UNISON members in Downing Street to discuss one of the issues our union has been campaigning on for years: the cost of using your own vehicle to do your job.
Members travelled from every corner of the UK, from Norwich to Cornwall to Glasgow, to meet Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Dan Tomlinson MP, the Exchequer Secretary, and share their experiences directly. The stories they told were powerful, and for the politicians listening, impossible to ignore.
For too long, public service workers have effectively subsidised their employers simply by turning up to work. Rates have remained unchanged since 2011 leaving workers across the country thousands of pounds out of pocket. In the face of rising living costs, this has put the household finances of the very workers keeping this country running under serious strain.
When I last met Rachel Reeves, I raised the need for urgent action on mileage rates directly. So I was pleased that today’s conversation took place against the backdrop of a significant campaign victory: her announcement last month that, thanks to UNISON’s efforts, she would be increasing the approved HMRC mileage rate by 10 pence per mile.
That change has the potential to make a real difference. If employers adopt the new rate, many public service workers who rely on their vehicles for work will be around £1,000 better off this year. At a time when many families are still feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, that matters.
The meeting was positive, constructive and focused on practical solutions. Members welcomed the increase and recognised it as an important step forward. But they were equally clear that this cannot be the end of the conversation.
The reality is that the true cost of owning and running a vehicle still exceeds what many workers receive. Fuel, insurance, maintenance and vehicle costs continue to put pressure on already stretched household budgets.
So there is work to do.
For government, that means looking at further increases in future, introducing more regular reviews and taking action against employers who refuse to do the minimum by reimbursing their staff fairly for their time and travel.
For UNISON, it means taking this campaign into every workplace. A higher HMRC rate only helps workers if employers actually implement it. Our job now is making sure councils, care providers and other employers do the right thing.
Today’s meeting showed what can be achieved when workers organise and speak with one voice. We should celebrate this win. But we should also recognise what our members told us loud and clear today: progress has been made, but the journey is not over.
And as ever, I will keep making the case until every worker is treated fairly.
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