The announcement of a general election while this year’s FBU annual conference was in session emphasised its crucial role
FBU annual conference 2024 took place between 22 and 24 May in Blackpool, with hundreds of delegates, observers and guests in attendance.
Since the previous year’s gathering, much had happened. Global temperatures hit a record high. Scotland and Wales both got a new first minister. The authoritarian Minimum Service Levels Act became law. The public inquiry into Covid revealed widespread government failings. Gaza has faced an appalling onslaught and loss of life.
By annual conference 2025, much more will have changed.
Near the end of the final session on 23 May, the second day of conference, a cheer went up as FBU general secretary Matt Wrack announced that Rishi Sunak had called a general election for July.
The union will use the general election to make the case for funding, pay, jobs and the future of the fire and rescue service – as it has already set out in the Firefighters’ Manifesto
With a new government on the horizon, the need for FBU members to debate, and democratically decide upon, the union’s direction has never seemed so important.
Conference opened, as it always does, with delegates standing in silence to remember comrades who had passed away in the previous year.
PAY
Soon afterwards, there followed a discussion of the fire service pay settlement for 2024-25.
From 1 July, all firefighters and fire control staff will receive a 4% uplift in pay, a rise which is above the current rate of inflation, and women will now get a minimum of 26 weeks of full-pay maternity leave. From 1 January 2025, the RDS retaining fee will rise (as a proportion of the relevant whole-time salary) for the first time in decades, with the maximum rate rising by 50%.
The deal is a result of months of negotiations, which national officials reported on from the conference platform. FBU members accepted the package the week before conference opened, with 73% voting in favour on a 60% turnout.
THE COMING ELECTION
Workers’ rights, especially in the context of an election, were at the centre of the debate at conference. Two executive council policy statements adopted by delegates set out the union’s position.
The union will use the general election to make the case for funding, pay, jobs and the future of the fire and rescue service – as it has already set out in the Firefighters’ Manifesto. As well as pumping money into the sector, it is essential that the next government roll back the fragmentation of the fire service, by creating a statutory advisory body (SAB) through which firefighters can have a say on setting national standards on matters such as crewing numbers and response times.
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
Central to the FBU’s priorities for an incoming Labour government will be the delivery of the New Deal for Working People. The policies it contains would represent a significant step forward for the living standards of millions of people. Labour is now committed to ending zero hours contracts and to support collective bargaining. Crucially for firefighters, it will scrap the latest anti-union laws, including the Minimum Service Levels Act, which equates to a de facto strike ban for firefighters in England.
Guest speaker Ian Lavery MP addressed conference on the subject of workers’ rights and the general election. FBU officials have fought hard to get these policies into the Labour party manifesto, but the union understands that in government Labour will have to be pushed and cajoled to begin delivering these policies within 100 days of taking office.
GAZA
The brutal assault on Gaza was a significant topic at annual conference. Around 40,000 civilians have so far been killed, many of them children, and a humanitarian crisis is under way.
Conference restated its solidarity with the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank, and condemned the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023. The FBU demanded an immediate ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal and an arms embargo, and sends its solidarity to the Israeli anti-war movement, among other resolutions. Louise Reagan from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign addressed conference.
Conference also heard from Francisco “Pacho” Toloza from the Colombia Solidarity Campaign
EQUALITIES
During a long discussion on the final day of conference, delegates reaffirmed the FBU’s commitment to leading the fight against bullying, discrimination and harassment in the fire service.
An executive council policy statement on sexual harassment set out the union’s own issues: according to an independent report, 30% of women members have experience sexual harassment in an FBU context. Sexual harassment is not a “women’s issue”, but a trade union issue that goes to the heart of the union’s aims on justice and fairness at work.
MEDALS AND GOODBYES
Annual conference was witness to the awarding of the FBU Solidarity Medal to two exceptional individuals. Pat Carberry has been a pioneer of LGBT+ rights in the FBU since the 1980s (see page 16). Dave Smith is a tireless campaigner against blacklisting and a prolific trade union educator.
Conference also gave a vote of thanks to a number of long-serving staff who will not be coming with the union when it moves offices this summer – Anna Zych, Jan Ross, Jo Huggins and Birute Samsanaviciene.
