Employees Forced to Subsidize Government
Jun 20, 2008
gasoline, price, subsidize, vehicle
The escalating gasoline prices we’ve been seeing over the last while have not only affected individuals. The effects of these dramatic increases are now resonating in the public sector as well. Prices have gone up so much that the MGEU member reimbursement rate for mileage incurred when using personal vehicles for work has become insufficient to cover actual costs.
Unfortunately neither the Union nor the Province could have predicted during the last round of negotiations just how much fuel prices would rise. Collective agreements tend to capture gasoline prices as they are at a moment in time and do not normally have an escalator clause that anticipates dramatic fluctuations in price
As a result of this emerging problem, the MGEU has met with the government recently to discuss the effect this is having on MGEU members and to discuss possible solutions.
Gas prices were hovering around the 90 cents per litre mark at the time of the signing of the last Master Agreement. This means that the 40+ cents per litre increase is by itself greater than the per kilometre rate that members are reimbursed for using their personal vehicles for work. Civil servants driving personal vehicles on government business are no longer being compensated for costs incurred. In fact, they’re being forced to subsidize government operations.
In a recent letter to the provincial government, the MGEU requested that all mileage rates contained in the Government Employees’ Master Agreement be increased significantly and that the two parties to the agreement negotiate a mechanism to be included in the collective agreement to ensure that rates are adjusted on a regular basis to reflect changes in fuel prices.
The Union needs your help in getting this message to the Government. That’s why we’re asking that you send your concerns directly to Finance Minster Greg Selinger at gselinger@leg.gov.mb.ca. Let the Government know that MGEU members should not be bearing the cost of increased gas prices for doing their jobs.
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