Firefighters' union plans further strike next week
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has announced further strike action in England and Wales between 10am and 2pm on Wednesday 13 November.
The plans for the latest in a series of walkouts comes after what the union has described as "unnecessary and inflammatory" action by the government's Fire Minister Brandon Lewis MP.
The FBU claims that three hours before firefighters were due to go on strike on Friday (1 November), Mr Lewis wrote to the Fire Brigades Union saying he was withdrawing pension proposals that the government had made on 19 June if the strike proceeded.
Although the FBU says it did not accept the 19 June proposals, it argues that the proposals did at least partially recognise firefighters’ concerns over the ‘No Job, No Pension’ issue.
The Union says that as a result of the 19 June proposals being withdrawn, the government’s current position is that firefighters who are forced to retire from the age of 55 because their fitness is declining would lose over 40% of their pension, rather than 21.8%.
In his reply to Lewis, FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack said that firefighters remained committed to resolving their pension concerns through negotiations but that his action had moved the situation further away from a negotiated settlement.
“If the government is serious about firefighters being protected from being sacked without access to an unreduced pension, why won’t it draft the pension regulations accordingly?," said Mr Wrack.
In response to the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) announcement of four hours of industrial action on 13 November 2013, Brandon Lewis said:
"It is disappointing that the FBU are once again choosing to strike when the government has offered a generous pension and developed a package on firefighter fitness that addresses the majority of their concerns. The FBU claim not to be able to agree to these proposals in England, yet similar proposals in Scotland were satisfactory enough to let the strike mandate there fall.
"Firefighters have one of the very best pension schemes available in the whole of the public sector, and with these proposals on fitness it represents a very good deal on the table, which the FBU should accept rather than prolong this dispute.
"A firefighter who earns £29,000, and retires after a full career aged 60, will get a £19,000 a year pension, rising to £26,000 with the state pension. An equivalent private pension pot would be worth over half a million pounds and require firefighters to contribute twice as much."
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue said that "whilst the issue is a matter between the Fire Brigades Union and Government, every Fire and Rescue Service has a legal duty to maintain a level of service to local communities as best it can."
It has issued advice to the public to take extra care with these six steps:
- If you haven’t already got one, install a smoke alarm and test it every week
- Take extra care in the kitchen - this is where most fires start
- Check your electrical appliances - turn them off and don’t overload sockets
- If you smoke, put cigarettes out properly
- Sleep safe - check everything in your home every bedtime
- Plan a safe escape - make sure you know how to get out of your home in an emergency
You will find FAQs and lots of fire safety advice for homes and businesses on the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service website, www.dsfire.gov.uk.
