SOMERSET TALKS TO START TODAY

FBU to meet fire authority management to resolve dispute over lack of New Dimension insurance cover

Talks between Somerset FBU and brigade management start today, Tuesday August 2.

Somerset FBU members will take industrial action short of strike action from August 4 if talks fail.

This will involve no participation in training for New Dimension equipment, IRUs and HVPs.

In a ballot, Somerset FBU members voted 85.5% in favour of industrial action short of strike action.

Suffolk FBU members start strike action

FBU members in Suffolk kicked off their first of a series of strikes at 0700 hours today, Tuesday August 2, over the fire authority’s plans to axe 12 firefighter posts.

Support Suffolk FBU members! National Demonstration 11 August 2005 1400 – 1600 Ipswich, Suffolk Contact your local FBU official for travel arrangements ------------------------------- Messages/resolutions of support for Suffolk members can be emailed to Suffolk brigade chair, Vince Jell

Today’s three hour strike will be followed by another three periods of strike action:
Friday 5 August 1700-1900 hours;
Monday, 8 August 2005, 0700-1000 hours; and
Thursday, 11 August 2005, 1600-1900 hours.

Suffolk fire authority is seeking unnecessary cuts in frontline firefighter posts at a time when resources are already badly overstretched.

If the cuts go ahead, emergency response will suffer and so will community fire safety as these 12 firefighters have a dual role.

London members resume industrial action as talks fail to resolve dispute

London members are resuming industrial action from 1800 on 5 August after long drawn out talks failed to resolve the dispute over overtime working arrangements.

The Union wants the brigade to withdraw the link between sickness absence control and eligibility for being considered for shifts of pre-arranged overtime.

It also wants double, rather than time and a half, for shifts of pre-arranged overtime at weekends.

Finally the Union wants an end to the practice of obliging firefighters to “hang-on” at the end of the shift and is calling for this to be voluntary.

In a ballot of FBU London members, 73% voted in favour of industrial action.

The industrial action, involving a ban on pre-arranged overtime, was started in March 2005 and then suspended to allow for talks. The talks have failed to resolve the dispute, however.

Union ensures Humberside employers pay members the proper rate for the job

The Union has pursuaded Humberside fire authority to reverse a decision to underpay FBU members.

At the start of July, Humberside employers promoted seven people and placed them on the development rate for that role, ignoring nationally agreed pay rates under the move to rank to role.

The Union made it immediately clear that this was not acceptable. Local officials held a number of meetings with the Chief Fire Officer and was assisted by the FBU nationally, including Region 4 EC member Bob Blackburn.

The CFO has now agreed that he will pay the competent rate, in line with national agreements set out by the NJC. All backmoney due will be paid.

“The decision to pay FBU members less than the rate for the job was absolutely outrageous.

“Thanks to the efforts of the FBU locally and nationally we mounted a successful challenge to that decision.

“We are very glad that Humberside fire service employers have seen sense,” says FBU Humberside brigade secretary Sean Starbuck.

Northumberland FBU dismisses chief’s claims on station closure plans

Northumberland FBU have dismissed the Chief Fire Officer’s claims that an Audit Commission Government report ‘shoots down the argument that we should leave the present system of fire stations alone’. The union said the Commission never measured how quickly or how well the fire service responded to incidents.

The Commission has already announced it will discuss a system of measuring responses to incidents with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The union also dismissed claims that some categories of fire deaths were only reduced because of prevention measures as “blinkered”.

Northumberland FBU spokesman Colin James said: “We reduce fire deaths with the right combination of prevention, detection and rapid response. It is blinkered to attribute reductions to one reason and ludicrous to build a long term plan on the basis of a snap shot of 12 months statistics.

“The Audit Commission would be appalled at claims their report endorsed station closures or an expensive Private Finance Initiative. We want meaningful consultation on a full range of options that are backed up with evidence.

“It is important to re-establish faith in the consultation process. Unfortunately, the chief officer is apparently already disregarding certain options before the consultation even gets under way.

“We fully support improvements to public safety and the drive to reduce the loss of life and serious injuries in our communities. There may be better solutions than the proposed £10million borrowing to build two new fire stations at Pegswood and East Sleekburn, with the closure of four at Blyth, Cramlington, Ashington and Morpeth.”

Government special advisers cost us £5.5 million

The bill for Government special advisers rocketed last year to £5.5 million – despite the drop in the number of special advisors.

Tony Blair revealed the cost of employing 72 special advisors for the 12 months to this April in a written statement just before the House of Commons summer recess.

The bill is up on the £5.3 million for the previous year when 83 special advisors were in post.

The higher cost – despite the lower number of total staff – means some staff may have had significant pay rises and now earn well beyond an MPs average salary of £59,000.

The advisers earn on average more than £70,000. Three of them earn up between £82,423 and £133,900. They are believed to include the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Jonathon Powell and his communications director David Hill.

Chancellor Gordon Brown and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott have three special advisors each. Tribune 29 July 2005

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Last Modified: 7/04/08 10:50,