The Fire Service Strike

The firefighters strike has happened on numerous occasions due to the employers being expected to work 12 hour shifts through the day and 15 hours of the night for low pay. The strike was put in order to get a 16% raise of their pay. The firefighters put themselves at risk when most of them have their own children and families, during their strikes they were handing out leaflets and and banners to make the public aware of the working conditions.

Fire dispute at a glance Pay Bain Review Working Practices Fire Brigades Union Firefighters are calling for a 40% rise FBU leader: "He has effectively wrecked the pay talks." FBU leader: "Modernising the service should not be an excuse to undermine the union." Employers The employers have offered them an interim 4% rise They have warmly welcomed the Bain report endorsing its "vision" of the future "Any increase above 4% would have to be linked to modernisation and supported financially by the government." Bain Review Recommends a 4% rise in 2002 followed by 7% in 2003 "I think in the longer term it provides the only basis on which any kind of rational and equitable deal can be done." Calls for reform and end to overtime ban and for more flexible working practices in return for a raise Fire Service Minister "We made it clear that if they [the employers] went beyond 4% they would have to fund that." "I believe most fair-minded people would regard it as a good basis for the future terms of the fire service." "Investment in public services must go hand in hand with improvement and modernisation." The FBU cites cuts in frontline services and reductions in spending as the cause of unrest. The Manchester branch of the FBU claims that it has seen cuts of £29.4 million in the last four years and a loss of 475 firefighter posts in Greater Manchester since 2002. The souring of relations has been shadowed by the news that the government plans to use private contractors rather than the army to cover any future strikes, due to the armed forces being overstretched in Afghanistan. This has been condemned by unions who see the move as a creeping privatisation of emergency services. The chief executive of a firm who has signed a contract with the London service was quoted in the Guardian this week as saying “this market is potentially huge and there is no reason why this trend could not spread to other emergency agencies”. The Manchester fire fighting service is split into two boroughs which share five stations. On 1 July a new system was implemented by the Greater Manchester Fire Authority whereby fire engines are shared by the stations to provide cover on different days of the week. The result, the FBU claims, is that 18 times a week a fire engine is unavailable to one of the stations. Incredibly Manchester Central is not classified as a key area and so receives less cover. Against the backdrop of recession the government has pledged to massively cut its public spending in order to avert an inflationary crisis. The FBU believes frontline services will be detrimentally affected and its members are to be balloted on changes to working conditions and reductions in staff levels. Firefighters in London are launching a campagin of industrail action this month due to a row over new contracts, threats are on to strike. This action will take place unless the capital's Fire Brigades union withdraws plans to intoduce new contracts, with different shift patterns. The proposal seeks to keep the same shift pattern of two days duties, two night duties and four days off. the 15- hour shift would reduce and the nine- hourday shift would increase, providing two equal 12- hour shifts.