Firefighters strike this weekend

Firefighters in England and Wales will strike for the fifth and sixth times this weekend, between 6pm and 10pm on both today (Friday 13 December) and tomorrow (Saturday 14 December).

Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have said that they will continue to strike until an agreement is met.

The public and business community are reminded to take care during both four hour strikes.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service have made contingency plans to ensure all 999 calls are answered during the strikes but still ask the public to be extra careful.

While the majority of fire stations across Devon should operate as usual during the strike, some locations will be affected by a reduced response time.

A pool of non-FBU firefighters will respond to emergencies in these areas, but may take longer to respond than usual.

The FBU is one the three operational unions and is the only union taking industrial action. Both the Retained Firefighters Union and the Fire Officers Union will continue work as usual.

The Strike, which is over a pension dispute with the government, saw 80% of FBU members vote in favour of industrial action.

Firefighters have some of the highest pension payments in the public and private sector on average paying 13% of their salaries on pension payments. The FBU also fears that the majority of firefighters over 55 could lose their job without access to their pension.

Many firefighters also face a fourth consecutive rise of 2.2% expected in 2015.

Firefighters also fear that the government will refuse to honour pension agreements and as a result not receive the pension they were promised despite paying into their scheme.

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary, said: “It’s now been almost two months since the government has been willing to meet us for negotiations despite several invitations from us.

“Until they do and until they start to actually resolve the dispute, we’ll keep up the pressure for the sake of public safety and our members’ pensions.

“In a week when the full details of a £7,600 pay rise for MPs’ — which will also increase their pensions — emerged, firefighters’ anger at the governments unworkable, unaffordable and unfair proposals will be even greater.

“No firefighter wants to strike, but we cannot allow the government’s ludicrous proposals — and outright hypocrisy — to stand. We’ll keep on fighting until the government sees sense and comes back to negotiations.”

The union has also argued that the expensive pension proposals are designed to fail because they ignore the physical demands and fitness standards required by the firefighters’ occupation.