The controversial Workplace Parking Levy, which planned to charge working people £550 a year to park their car, has been scrapped thanks to pressure from UNISON and the city’s other trade unions.
Leicester City Council claimed the money raised from the scheme would go towards improving public transport across but was going to take eight years to complete. In the meantime, working people faced paying £550 a year during a cost-of-living crisis without any immediate improvement in the frequency and accessibility of buses.
UNISON Leicester City branch secretary Janet McKenna said: “The Conservative government’s cuts to local council funding means working people are now being asked to fill the coffers through stealth taxes like the Workplace Parking Levy.
“We would be in favour of a fair and equitable plan to address the climate emergency, but this scheme wasn’t either.”
UNISON Leicester City steward and parking levy campaigner Michael Barker said: “UNISON launched its opposition to this campaign back in December 2021 and I’m delighted the trade union movement have worked together to force this U-turn.
“This scheme would have impacted around 26,000 workers and had a disastrous impact on vital public services.”
Notes to editors:
UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.