Firefighters: "Cuts will affect public safety"

Submitted by Matthew on 7 October, 2010 - 10:44

Ian Leahair, FBU Executive Council member for London, spoke to Solidarity.

The action short of a strike has been very strong all over; fire engines have been taken off the run right across the brigade. We've seen 56 engines taken off, along with boats and special equipment. That's all because of lack of crews, which shows how solid our overtime ban has been.

It's not just business as normal, which is proved by the fact that management have begun threatening pay cuts and mass disciplinaries for alleged breaches of contract. Management have clearly upped the ante. Our Regional Committee is meeting tomorrow and we will be discussing the possibility of escalating the action short of strike in response to the threats of discipline and reductions in member’s salaries by 20%.

Management are clearly under extreme pressure. They've been making up policy on the hoof with total disregard for safe systems of work, to cover the gaps left by our action and they clearly have no plan for dealing with it whatsoever. They said beforehand that our action would have no effect and that's clearly been proven wrong.

Our ballot for strike action closes on October 14, and we are convinced that it will be an overwhelming yes vote; strike action could begin from October 21 if necessary. We believe that firefighters across London would support any strike very solidly because they don't feel like they have any choice left, when threatened with the sack. Strike action is not something we want to take but this is not a dispute of our making; management could end it tomorrow if they lifted their threat of mass sackings.

Firefighters are certainly looking closely at similar struggles faced by other groups of workers. It's no accident that the introduction of the changes to our shift patterns are being timed to coincidence with the Comprehensive Spending Review. What we're facing is part of a general project of cuts against public sector workers.

As far as we're concerned, the fire service in London is one of the best in the country. We've already had to make cuts in the past and our argument now is that further cuts will seriously endanger firefighter and public safety. One thing the Fire Brigades Union will never do is accept cuts that endanger the safety of firefighters or the public, no matter which government is in power."

Norwich FBU fights cuts

Sixty members of the FBU in Norwich rallied on Saturday 2 October in the city-centre to protest cuts to the fire-service.

Tory-controlled Norfolk County Council is taking advantage of a welcome reduction in the volume of city call-outs to cut one of four whole-time fire engines from Norwich. The council also wants to remove more than twenty per cent of current fire-crews from the city. The FBU argues such cuts will increase the risk to the first crew attending a fire, and lengthen the time taken by a second crew to respond. This in turn intensifies the risk of death or injury to members of the public and to firefighters. Other frontline cuts are being made across the county, yet the number of fires breaking out in Norfolk homes has risen over the last four years.

The rally was supported by members of Norfolk Coalition Against Cuts, which has affiliations from local UNISON, PCS, NUT and other union-branches, and many left activists in the city. Firefighters will lobby County Councillors on October 11 when a decision on cuts is likely. Should cuts go ahead, local FBU members have indicated their willingness to strike to defend the service. More information via:

norfolkcoalitionagainstcuts.org

Pat Yarker

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