Research on the Strike

Fire crews to strike over shifts

Fire crews in South Yorkshire have voted in favour of strike action over the planned enforcement of changes to their shifts.
The fire service wants staff to work 12-hour day and night shifts instead of nine-hour days and 15-hour nights. The Fire Brigades Union balloted its members on strike action after staff who continued to refuse to work the new shifts were threatened with dismissal.
Firefighters voted five to one in favour of strikes, the union said. Out of the 683 votes cast, 565 members voted for strike action, 116 voted against and there were two spoilt ballot papers.
Crews started industrial action, including a ban on overtime, in June in protest against the planned shift changes.
The decision to ballot for strike action came last month, after the fire service said it would issue staff with new contracts and dismiss them if they refused to work the new shifts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/8273313.stm