When HTD was first introduced in 1974 it was as an inducement to LATCC to change from a 4 watch to 5 watch system. There was a lot of opposition to working AAOMMNNSOO and most preferred to work A M/N S O tha advantage being that you worked 18 hours in 24 0745-1245 and then 1945-0745 !!! It was calculated on the difference between the private car rate [business rate] and the public transport rate. The rationale was that the new shift times would mean that you could not use public transport in order to get to and from home on all the shifts. Currently the Business rate is 40p a mile and the lower rate is around 14p [not sure exactly]. For 18 months the allowance followed this formula starting at 2.2p per mile and by 1976 was at 4p per mile! Then came the oil crisis in 1976 and the CAA froze the allowance at 4p. This was because the difference between the 2 rates was increasing rapidly. It was agreed that this was a short term measure and as soon as Govt pay policy permitted they would reinstate the difference!! 30 years later they have not yet got round to hiking HTD up to the 26p per mile that it should now be at
Well there is a bit of background information from an old wrinklie that was part of the IPCS [ATCA union] that negotiated this deal. Incidentally as an ATCA who lived in Reading and worked at LATCC the HTD was equivalent to 25% of my gross pay in 1975!! How times change!!!