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MGEU wants province to pay better mileage

Updated: September 17 at 02:55 AM CDT | Winnipeg Free Press

RISING gas prices have provoked Manitoba's largest public sector union to call on the Doer government to better reimburse workers who use their own vehicles.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union launched a campaign Tuesday to urge Finance Minister Greg Selinger to increase the mileage reimbursement rate the province uses to compensate workers who travel to do their jobs.

MGEU president Peter Olfert said the campaign will also demand the government adjust the rate regularly when the price of gas rises or falls.

He said those workers most impacted by high gas costs are rural home-care workers and social workers who have to travel long distances as part of their jobs.

Olfert said Manitoba has the lowest mileage reimbursement rate at 39.7 cents per kilometre. Other provinces are about 10 cents higher.

The union hopes to meet with the provincial government in the coming weeks to decide what reimbursement rate would be fair.

The MGEU commissioned a public poll on the issue and found that 75 per cent of Manitobans agreed with the union's position that requiring employees to cover more of the costs of gas than before was "unfair." The poll was considered accurate to within five percentage points, 19 times out of 20.