Mechanisms by which firefighters pay is worked out were determined by the strike of 25 years ago. The current pay formula means that Firefighters are aligned with the top % of skilled manual workers, like the assemblers at Dagenham’s Ford plant. Obviously out of date. Workers embodied in the Union want to get Firefighters recognised as skilled technical professionals, because with increasing technology the job already has changed beyond recognition in this time. The National Joint Council (NJC) established by the Fire Services Act 1946 write the common standards as a bottom denominator for all fire services in the UK. They recognised that significant technical change and advances had occurred earlier this year.

As a result the NJC recommended vast increases in pay because of the increasing professionalism, and to make up for falling general pay levels. Andy Gilchrist (Fire Brigades Union Chair) said there was 16% on the table at this time. A rumour confirmed by Ken Livingston in the media subsequently. The current breakdown in negotiations between the employers and the union arose when the government intervened to deny any extra funding for this increase. The Government and Employers have subsequently denied that 16% was ever on the table. Suggesting that there is more political goings on than is first apparent i.e. the government wish to use this to discipline workers generally and the firefighters in particular.

Those recommendations around May 2002 and the Fire Brigade Unions (FBU) conference led to the ballot earlier this year. Negotiations broke down and the Union commissioned the Labour Research Department to examine the pay formula. Their conclusions, taking into account the changing role in order to bring us back to a comparative level of pay as it was at the end of the last strike, would mean that salary would need to increase to £30,000. Which shows an £8,500 shortfall in real terms, a massive falling behind. This needed 40% increase has been hailed by John Prescott as fantasy and by Blair as unreasonable, however it was exactly the same department that recommended that MPs get a raise of 40% as well.

The MPs rise went through without a public mandate but with little media disapproval. It’s clear that giving lots of money to our already privileged political masters is ‘affordable’. However, it’s a case of ‘do as I say but not as I do’. 40% is realistic when applied to a useless politician in the Commons, but it unrealistic and inflationary when demanded by a firefighter.

Enemy propaganda is saying firefighters want parity with the Police, and this has been called unrealistic. Firefighters know though that Commissioner of the London Fire Bridgade, Brian Robinson, changed his title to that used by the boss of the Metropolitan Police, but not his working practices, so that his salary could increase by 20K to 130K. Ordinary firefighters are pissed off with this.

Prior to the strike the Union cancelled 2 sets of 48 hour strike actions as a measure of goodwill, to demonstrate good faith and a desire to negotiate. Emergency discussions over pay with Prescott and the employers produced no further offers only insults, in addition to the 4% they had been offered as an interim ahead of the ballot.

All this in the context of UK firefighters having far better working practices, and is far safer than most worldwide fire services. The UK Fire service leads the world in some key areas and is seen as amongst the top three services in the world.

The Strike

Frustration that no headway was being made and anger at government intervention led the union to ballot its members over strike action. The results of this were known on Friday 18th October, and displayed an overwhelming 87.6% in favour of action. Northern Irelands were counted separately and displayed 96.6% in favour.

So reluctantly on Wednesday 13th November at 1800 hours the first 48 hour strike action was taken, with as good as the entire branch of Lambeth FBU headquarters along with all other branches walking out including some management. Testimony from both nights of picket line action says there was overwhelming public support for them. Cars including Mercs, vans, Lorries, buses, boats on the Thames, were all tooting their horns in a show of solidarity. As well as significant numbers of the public showing support and recalling services rendered in the past, as well as providing food, drink and best wishes. And this at a time when the press were declaring that we had lost public support.

Bain the Pain – Professor Bain

The emergency talks arising from the proposed 48 hour strike actions produced no change in employers attitudes towards pay. In fact it emerged that pay was the last item on the agenda with the employers pushing their managerialist agenda of modernisation (a disguise for redundancy). This exposed these talks as no more than delaying tactics, as was the Bain Report whose findings were speeded up so Bain could come onto TV, and parrot the employers line he was paid to discover. This should have been no surprise as he who pays the monkey calls the tune, but it was another weapon the government used against the firefighters. The whisper that Gilchrist got months ago said that Bains dice were loaded like this.

The Future

Since the first 48 hour action the government has responded with only insults, spin and nothing that could seriously resolve firefighters grievances. This is likely to lead to a hardening attitude and an unfolding series of strikes beyond the 8 day action that started on the 22nd Nov at 0900. The government has been feeding the media distortions about falling levels of public support, when firefighters simply want more pay. Firefighters already know we have public support even if our conservative supporters may be faltering due to the slurs in the media. The journalists seem to be encouraging the firefighters to be slower to respond to the next fire at the Canary Wharf media center or at Wapping?

Firefighters have not mandated Gilchrist to negotiate over conditions and won’t accept any imposed. Gilchrist has Firefighters popular support and should respect this. He has said informally that he will put any proposal to the members before it is accepted. Let’s make sure he knows this. One fireman in front of hundreds of others shouted “Don’t sell us out you cunt” to Gilchrist at a mass meeting recently – a free year’s subscription to Class War to the first firefighter to claim it was him!

The bosses modernisation means cutting fire cover at night in terms of personnel and appliances, and cutting overall staff levels. Effectively asking us to do more for less, which will affect morale. Is this what the public want with a perceived increased threat from terrorism? They claim that there is a reduced number of call outs at night but fail to mention that all the serious call outs happen at night, including life threatening incidents. During the day you have routine calls like people stuck in lifts that aren’t as problematic but are more numerous.

The union’s idea of modernisation is better equipment, more effective training and so on. Unfortunately in the London Fire Brigade there is a lot of people waiting for first aid course renewals. When Stations appliances are being serviced they are finding 15 year old appliances that should no longer be in service. All of which is a result of employers so called modernisation already, including an engine that takes 2 minutes to warm up before it will leave the station. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.

The reluctance by firefighters to strike should not be misinterpreted as weakness, the resolve is there to get a serious increase and to continue for as long as it takes. Solidarity like tube drivers striking on the same day as firefighters, and visiting fire stations is to be encouraged. Lets try to spread this strike as much as possible. The firefighters strike is due to government intervention in normal negotiating machinery. It will not be resolved by their posturing or attempts at strike breaking.

www.fbu.org.uk www.supportyourfirefighters.com www.30kfairpay.co.uk www.classwaruk.org