PCS: ‘No pay day’ for driving licence staff
Today (29 October) marks, ‘No Pay Day’ for driving licence staff. Pay differences across the Department for Transport (DfT) mean the predominantly female workforce of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) effectively begin working for free from today for the rest of the year, when compared to staff doing similar jobs in the rest of the DfT and its sub agencies.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will be highlighting ‘No Pay Day’ and the pay inequality that exists between the DVLA, the DfT and the other six predominately male staffed agencies, at a Parliamentary drop in brief for MPs today.
The DVLA workforce are mostly women who earn 16% less than their male colleagues doing similar jobs in the core DfT and its other six executive agencies, such as the Highways Agency and Driving Standards Agency (DSA). Pay gaps between the DVLA and other parts of the DfT can be in excess of £2,500.
The DfT has refused to investigate the pay inequality that exists and the link between gender and pay in the DVLA and the rest of the department and its agencies. The union is currently seeking a judicial review against the DfT and lodging equal pay claims.
The DfT is made up of eight sub parts – a small core department and seven executive agencies – each with a different pay system and pay rates. The sub parts are DfT(centre), DSA, Highways Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Vehicle Certification Agency, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, Government Car and Despatch Agency and DVLA.
The ‘No Pay Day’ comes as over 260,000 PCS members prepare for a UK one day strike across civil and public services over the government’s 2% public sector pay cap which is resulting in pay cuts and pay freezes for some of the lowest paid in the country.
Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “It is scandalous that a government department can preside over such glaring pay inequality that leads to a predominantly female workforce losing out on two months pay. It is shocking that thirty eight years after the equal pay act that gender segregation and pay inequality are being defended by a government department. Added to which you have a culture of low pay that is being fostered by the government’s policy to cap public sector pay. The government need to address the culture of low pay and pay inequality by engaging with the union and averting damaging strike action.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
* For further information, interviews and comment please contact Alex Flynn PCS national press officer on 0207 8012820 or 07833 978216.
* PCS, the Public and Commercial Services Union is the union representing civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president Janice Godrich.
* PCS represents over 14,000 people working for the Department for Transport.
Alex Flynn
National Press Officer
Public and Commercial Services Union
160 Falcon Rd
London SW11 2LN
Direct line: 020 7801 2747
Mobile: 07833 978 216
Fax: 020 7924 1847
Support the PCS campaign for fair pay for civil and public servants:
we are asking for pay increases that match inflation and fair pay progression.
Public servants are the victims not the cause of inflation!
Sign the petition, watch the video and find out more at www.pcs.org.uk/fairpay
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