high level summit on public sector pensions

Andy Gilchrist and other union general secretaries meet ministers next week

FBU General Secretary Andy Gilchrist will be attending a high level meeting on Thursday 31 March with the general secretaries of other public sector unions, Alan Johnson MP, Cabinet Minister for Work and Pensions, Cabinet Minister Ian McCartney MP and David Miliband MP to discuss public sector pensions.

Alan Johnson’s letter of invitation, received yesterday as Andy Gilchrist met in London with other union leaders under the auspices of the TUC’s Public Sector Liaison Group (PSLG), states:

“Concerns have been raised by the unions and many public sector workers that the government appeared to be proceeding with reform of this area by diktat. However, Cabinet has agreed all aspects of the Government’s proposals are open to discussion and negotiation within the framework of the law and tax treatment of pensions.”

The meeting is about discussion and dialogue. It is not a negotiating meeting. It will cover both the Firefighters Pension Scheme and the Local Government Pension Scheme which applies to firefighters (control).

Cautious optimism

The summit is to be welcomed. But at this stage any enthusiasm needs to be tempered with a healthy degree of cautious optimism.

There is no doubt that the work of the union at national, regional and brigade level has assisted in the process of moving the Government from a position of diktat to dialogue. The many thousands of members who have lobbied and written to their MPs also played a key role in getting to this stage.

The Union will keep members informed of developments.

Asbestos Register Now Live

The FBU has launched its asbestos register – a record of members who believe they were exposed to the lethal dust while working for the fire service.

The register is an invaluable database of information that can help to speed up the process of compensation claims for members who become ill due to asbestos exposure. It records the names of members, employers, the workplaces where they came into contact with asbestos and the relevant dates.  Other unions have databases too.

Because asbestos-related diseases normally only become apparent between 20 and 50 years after the exposure it is all too easy for the union to lose contact with members who may have been exposed. Their colleagues too, who could act as vital witnesses in any claim for compensation – now or in the future - may also have moved away.  Older retired firefighters, some of whom might have lost contact with the union, can register too.

By holding this type of information on a database the union and its solicitors can easily search for those who may have been exposed during the key period when asbestos was present both in buildings and in protective equipment such as blankets, anti-flash hoods and gloves.

In the UK about 3,500 people will die this year from an asbestos related illness and this figure is expected to rise to around 10,000 deaths a year by 2020.

Not all asbestos related diseases are fatal. While mesothelioma is the worst consequence of past asbestos exposure and is always fatal, other conditions include: asbestosis, a form of fibrosis which causes breathing difficulties and can be progressive; pleural thickening, which involves thickening of the lining to the lungs and can be largely symptomless; and pleural plaques which are calcified areas of tissue, normally symptomless but often (as with pleural thickening) a cause of great anxiety.

They are evidence of exposure to asbestos and of pathological change caused by it. They can indicate the sufferer is at a small, but nonetheless real, risk of developing a more serious asbestos-related condition.

Members do not have to have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease to register with the FBU asbestos register. Nor do they need to have absolute proof that they were exposed. It’s important that the FBU has as many names as possible on the register to help those that are already ill or become ill in the future and need to make a claim.

If you register that information might help a former colleague.  Those who register might help you.

To enter your details on the register, call 0808 100 6061 and ask for a form. Alternatively visit the FBU website (www.fbu.org.uk) and go to the ‘Workplace’ section (Officials forms) to fill one in on-line or to get hold of a form to print and send to our solicitors Thompsons.

No room for racists in service which serves all communities equally

There is no room for racists in the fire service because it must be seen to be serving all members of the community equally and without discrimination.

The reputation of the police and prison services have both been damaged by allegations of racism and that must not be allowed to happen to the fire service.

General Secretary Andy Gilchrist said:

“We serve every member of our community equally and without prejudice. No member of the communities we serve must ever be in the position where they ever doubt that.”

“The police and the prison service have both been badly damaged by allegations of racism. We don’t want the name of the fire service being dragged through the mud in the same way.”

“The BNP and other racists are banned in the prison service and are not wanted in the police service. We will not give them safe haven in the fire service.”

The union also says that membership of the British National Party is not compatible with employment in the fire service. It applauds the anti-racist policy adopted by Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service and looks forward to the entire UK fire service taking a similar position.

FBU President Ruth Winters said:

“The BNP is rooted in the fascist past of its founders and leaders. It has simply dropped the swastika and jackboots in favour of a suit and tie.

“A number of BNP leaders have criminal convictions for racially motivated assaults, bomb-making and inciting racial hatred. BNP members have been convicted for carrying out racially motivated arson, bombings, assaults and murder.

“BNP members have a history of expressing their views with the firebomb through the letterbox, the nailbomb and the boot.

They have promoted racially motivated thuggery, not political debate.”

The reality of the BNP

The thoughts of Chairman Griffin (in 1996)

The BNP needed to be perceived as "a strong, disciplined organization with the ability to back up its slogan, 'Defend Rights for Whites', with well directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and will, not of rational debate."

He added: "It is more important to control the streets of a city than its council chamber. If that is the sort of 'unreasonable' attitude that journalists and opponents try to use against us at election times, it shouldn't bother us."

Convicted politicians:

Nick Griffin (BNP Chairman). Received a two-year suspended sentence in April1998 for inciting racial hatred.

Tony Lecomber (BNP Group Development Officer). In 1985 he was convicted on five counts for bomb-making offences under the Explosives Act, including possession of homemade hand-grenades and electronic timing devices. Sentenced to three years' imprisonment. In 1991 he was sentenced to another three years' for unlawful wounding for his part in an attack on a Jewish schoolteacher. He has a total of 12 convictions, mostly for violence.

Colin Smith (South East London organiser). Has (at the last count) 17 convictions for burglary, theft, stealing cars, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer.

John Tyndall (founder of the BNP before he was expelled) has six convictions. He was jailed in 1962 for organising a military style organisation. Four years later, he was sent to prison for possession of a loaded gun. In 1986, he was convicted for incitement to racial hatred under the Public Order Act and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.

Warren Bennett (Chief Steward). Convictions for football hooliganism. In 1998, he was deported from France with over 50 other Scottish hooligans, including several BNP members.

Steve Belshaw (East Midlands BNP organiser). Convicted in 1994 for assaulting a lawyer in Mansfield. At the time, Belshaw combined his BNP membership with Combat 18 activity (an openly nazi semi-military organization which carried out racist attacks including letter-bombs). Combat 18: the 1 is for A (as in Adolf) and the 8 is for H (as in Hitler).

David Copeland , the London nailbomber who killed three people, was also a BNP member.

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