Dear Brother/Sister
Merseyside Action Short of Strike (ASOS) ballot
The Fire Brigades Union has commenced a ballot of Merseyside members for Action Short of Strike (ASOS) consisting of not undertaking pre-arranged overtime. The ballot commenced Tuesday 18th October and will conclude 2pm Friday 11th November.
The ballot concerns several local matters which include:
- A longstanding dispute, initially registered 4th August 2016, in relation to the Day Crewing Whole Time Retained Duty Shift System (DCWTR) and Hybrid Duty Shift System.
- A longstanding dispute, initially registered 21st December 2017, in relation to the non-agreed expansion of the firefighter role at paragraph 3.4 of a number of contracts of employment which was not agreed with the union.
- The imposed reduction of night-time staffing numbers in fire control from 6 to 5, initial dispute registered 16th March 2022 and the subsequent refusal by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority to seek external assistance from the NJC.
- The requirement placed upon Apprentice Firefighters to attend the work place for reasons which include, but not limited to; Support Days, on point assessment and end point assessment without recompense. The FBU have sought to address this issue through the demand that agreement is reached with the FBU for a set number of days per year in which apprentices are entitled to undertake “off-the-job” training.
Following repeated unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issues, the Union registered a trade dispute with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service on Friday 30th September 2022, giving them 7 days’ notice of our intention to ballot members for action short of strike, consisting of not undertaking pre-arranged overtime, should Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service not address our concerns.
Having once again failed to address the Union’s concerns, the Union at the request of Merseyside Brigade Committee, has been left with no other recourse other than to commence a ballot of Merseyside members for action short of strike, consisting of not undertaking pre-arranged overtime.
All members and Officials are encouraged to send messages of support and solidarity to Merseyside members via Merseyside Brigade Secretary, Ian Hibbert [email protected] and Merseyside Brigade Chair, Lee Hunter [email protected]
Yours in unity.
Matt Wrack
General Secretary
