Dear Brother/Sister

PROJECT FIREGUARD – PRIVATISED STRIKEBREAKING

Last week a number of senior managers and politicians from various Fire and Rescue Authorities met in London to discuss Project Fireguard. This project is managed by the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) and aims at providing arrangements for “business continuity” in the Fire and Rescue Service. In simple terms it is a plan for organising strikebreaking within the Service. It has emerged because of the Government’s decision not to provide any military cover in such circumstances.

The Fire Brigades Union has worked extremely hard in recent years to try to improve industrial relation within our Service. Nobody wants to see conflict or industrial action. The Project Fireguard initiative is provocative and unhelpful. Instead of wasting public money on a scheme which may never be needed and would not work even if it was, Fire Service senior managers would be better used helping to improve relations and staff morale. It is the endless drive for change for the sake of change and penny-pinching attacks on conditions of service that has produced conflict in our Service. Yet money can be found for ridiculous projects like this. It is remarkable that the people who claim to be ‘leaders’ of our Service have so little understanding of the consequences of their actions.

Project Fireguard has identified Group4 Security Services (UK) plc as the recommended provider of these services. The set up costs are likely to be £9.8million and annual running costs £9.2million. This is proposed in a Service where we are constantly being told that cuts are unavoidable due to financial pressure. The investment of this money at local level could actually avoid some of the problems which we have faced over recent years in individual Fire Services. Instead of planning for privatised strikebreaking, politicians and Chief Officers in our Service would be better used trying to improve industrial relations and avoiding conflict in the first place.

Group 4 is a multinational corporation whose only interest in our Service is to make a bit more profit at the expense of UK tax and council tax payers. The involvement of this particular company would be funny if it were not so serious. Members will of course remember Group 4’s role in a number of prisoner escapes in the UK. It seems we can now expect the same levels of incompetence to be introduced into our Service so as to boost corporate profits.

Fire and Rescue Authorities will need to consider these proposals before the autumn before final decisions are made. We will be providing advice to local officials about discussing the issue with CFOs and local Fire Authorities. We shall be raising the matter with Local Government minister, John Healey at a meeting later this week. We shall also be writing to our own Out of Trade members and to other organisations of retired Firefighters to strongly advise them not to participate in this ridiculous farce.

Further information will be issued in due course.

Best wishes.

Yours fraternally


MATT WRACK
GENERAL SECRETARY
MW/sll