FBU

Fire Brigades Union

Industrial news in brief

The Hands Off London Transport (HOLT) campaign, a coalition involving the RMT union, Disabled People Against Cuts activists, student unionists, pensioner activists, and others, plans a Day of Action against Tube cuts on Friday 13 June. Activists will organising leafleting, demonstrations, and other actions outside local Tube stations including King’s Cross, Walthamstow Central, Leytonstone, Elephant & Castle, and Brixton, to highlight the damaging impact Boris Johnson and London Underground bosses’ cuts plans will have on passengers as well as Tube staff. Two weeks later, HOLT will join the...

Make 10 July the start, not the end

More than one million public sector workers could strike on Thursday 10 July. Workers across local government, education, the civil service, the fire service, and other public sector workplaces and industries are likely to launch coordinated strikes over pay. Some unions, like the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), have live ballots from ongoing sectoral disputes which will allow them to strike on 10 July. The PCS is currently consulting its members over participation in a mass strike. Transport for London...

Firefighters strike again

Firefighters in England and Wales will strike again on Thursday 12 June over attacks on their pensions, after the government said it would implement a new pension scheme without further negotiations with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). The strike begins at 9am and lasts for 24 hours, and will be followed by a further day’s strike from 10am on Saturday 21 June. In between the two strikes, firefighters will not carry out any voluntary overtime or conduct training for scabs. The FBU has also said that in cases where fire authorities lock out or dock additional pay from firefighters, members in...

Firefighters' pensions battle escalates

Firefighters took industrial action over three days last week as the FBU’s pensions long-running battle escalated. Firefighters in England and Wales took strike action between noon and 5pm on 2 May, between 2pm on 3 May and 2am on 4 May and between 10am and 3pm on Sunday 4 May. In addition, there was a ban on voluntary overtime across England and Wales from 3pm on 4 May until noon on 9 May, and in Scotland a ban on voluntary overtime between noon on 2 May and noon on 9 May. The action was provoked by the prevarication and evasiveness of the Westminster government, despite months of fresh...

Firefighters' dispute escalates over New Year

The FBU’s pensions campaign cranked up a notch over the holiday period, with three further periods of strike action as well as the first action short of a strike. Firefighters took strike action in England and Wales for five hours on Christmas Eve, a further five hours on New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day and for two hours on the morning of Friday 3 January. The FBU argued that the firefighters provide a 24/7 service and it was therefore legitimate to take action over the festive period. A Guardian poll found that 85% of the public said firefighters’ should take strike during the holiday...

Industrial news in brief

The RMT is planning an extensive political campaign to accompany its industrial battle to stop job cuts and ticket office closures on London Underground. The University of London Union (ULU), which represents students at a number of London colleges, hosted a public planning meeting for supporters of the “Every Job Matters” campaign on Tuesday 10 December. The ballot for strikes and action-short-of-strikes closes on January 10, with action due the following week if the ballot returns the expected yes vote. Workers and passengers face the closure of every ticket office on the London Underground...

More strikes due in fire dispute

Firefighters in England and Wales were posed for their fourth short pension strike this week, as the battle began to harden into a more protracted dispute. On Wednesday 13 November, FBU members in England and Wales will strike from 10am to 2pm, another short action designed to show that firefighters do not accept the government’s unworkable pension changes. The differences have hardened since the last strikes on 1 and 4 November, after the fire minister withdrew part of an earlier offer, making the actuarial reduction for retiring early even more draconian. The most prominent issue is the...

Fire dispute escalates

The FBU’s dispute over pensions escalated last week after the fire minister withdrew a previous offer in the wake of further strikes. Firefighters in England and Wales held two further solid strikes on Friday 1 November for four and a half hours and a further two hour strike on Monday 4 November. A further strike is planned for Wednesday 13 November. However a last minute intervention by fire minister Brandon Lewis just before the Friday strike began has worsened the prospect of a settlement, after he withdrew proposals made in June – increasing the penalty for firefighters forced to retire...

Firefighters' strikes on hold

The week 14-20 October was a tumultuous one for the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) with a successful demonstration in London. However the second pensions strike, due on 19 October, was postponed after last-minute movement from employers and the government. Firefighters marched through the rain on Wednesday 16 October in a national demonstration against cuts and the pensions attack. The mood was positive and there were large delegations from across the UK, with sizeable numbers of younger firefighters. Going past Downing Street, a section of the demo rushed the gates shouting “you don’t know what...

FBU back in action

Firefighters in England and Wales will take further strike action for five hours on Saturday 19 October in the ongoing dispute over pensions. The action takes place after firefighters in Scotland voted not to strike for the time being, after the Scottish government offered some concessions. The ballot result is a blow to united action in the face of a common attack and a significant fault line for future negotiations on other matters. The Scotland result will be used by the SNP to promote its line of partnership working with unions in an independent Scotland — a deliberate attempt to cut...

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