FBU general secretary Matt Wrack explains the union’s strategy for achieving a fair pay offer
Following an FBU campaign and preparation for strike action, fire service employers revised their pay offer to 5%.
In June, they offered a 2% annual increase. The shift is the result of hard work by FBU members and officials and because of the strength of feeling that members demonstrated.
But it is still not enough. The executive council recommends that members reject this latest offer.
The union’s next step is a consultative ballot of members on this offer which will open on 31 October and close on 14 November. Look out for ballot papers to your email, or through your letterbox.
Over recent months, the Fair Pay or Fire Strike campaign has sprung into action, with FBU members demonstrating anger and a determination to fight for better pay.
Hundreds of branch meetings have taken place in brigades across the UK.
At these meetings, we heard loud and clear the feeling of members that enough is enough and that now is the time to stand strong and fight back.
There are rightly questions and concerns about taking industrial action, and we want to ensure that all members’ views are heard.
The union’s executive council, whose members represent firefighters and control staff from across the country, is recommending that members reject this pay offer and continue with our pay campaign.
The reasons get to the heart of some of the tensions we are seeing across the movement.
Perhaps most importantly, we are clear that 5% would be a further real terms pay cut, with inflation currently around 10%.
It would be the biggest cut in firefighters’ income in a single year for many years. That’s after more than a decade of stagnating wages, with firefighters having lost nearly £4,000 from their annual salaries in real terms.
Real term pay cuts such as this not only affect you during your career in the fire and rescue service. Since your pension is calculated on your pay, this will affect you for every single day of your retirement.
Central government has deliberately underfunded our service. This has meant cuts in services and jobs and squeezing pay for professional firefighters and control staff. We know that our employers have approached the government, which has done nothing.
Of course, it is not just in your pay packets that you are seeing the consequences of being deprived of what you need.
Firefighters have been working harder for less, with the fire service cut to the bone. We will continue to see more wildfires, major floods and other new and growing risks.
The government must invest to deliver a fire service that both works for the public and pays its firefighters fairly. Without this, firefighters will not be able to keep the public safe or live on their wages.
What is alarming is that the situation could get even worse. The government’s fire and rescue service white paper proposes weakening the say firefighters have over their pay and other terms and conditions.
EVERY STEP OF THE WAY
It also proposes other changes. Chief fire officers, many of them already paid more than the prime minister, could see their powers boosted.
Ordinary firefighters would likely see their pay suffer even more. Public safety could be hit, with the number of firefighters, night cover and response times all facing adverse impacts. We must oppose this every step of the way.
We cannot go on like this. Firefighters are struggling to pay for energy for their homes and put food on the table.
In one of the richest countries in the world, for workers who go to work every day to save lives, and risk theirs in the process, this is an utter disgrace.
Firefighters and control staff were some of the key workers the then prime minister used to stand outside every week and clap for.
We played a key role in protecting this society during a pandemic that has killed 208,000 people in the UK. Yet a real terms pay cut is how we are thanked.
What would be an acceptable offer, then? Do I or the executive council have a particular figure in mind? The real figure that matters is what employers offer and what you, the members, decide is acceptable. That’s for you to decide.
We have been through other pay campaigns in the past, and we are seeing other unions taking action now with various figures flying about.
FBU MEMBERS DECIDE
The vital thing that matters is that, when employers make an offer, FBU members assess it at that point and decide whether it is good enough or not.
On this occasion the executive council’s assessment is that 5% is not good enough and that we should continue the fight. But it is up to you, the members, to decide.
Alongside this consultative ballot, we have been continuing our preparations for strike ballot, in line with the decisions of the executive council.
We will continue to stand firm in our fight for fair pay for firefighters and firefighter control staff.
FBU members, who risk their lives to save others, should not be queuing at food banks.
FBU members, who risk their lives to save others, should not be queuing at food banks
I know that every FBU official and member will always be committed to making sure that is not the case – that firefighters and firefighter control get the fair pay they deserve.
Q & A
WHAT IS A CONSULTATIVE BALLOT? HOW DO I VOTE?
A consultative ballot is a test of members’ views. This one will run from Monday 31 October to Monday 14 November. It is a formal ballot and will be conducted by an independent scrutineer. We want to know what members think of the 5% offer. How members vote will help us determine the next steps of the campaign. Unlike a ballot for strike action, a consultative ballot can be held online and by post, so keep an eye out for relevant emails and letters from the union.
WHAT’S NEXT AFTER THE CONSULTATIVE BALLOT?
The assessment of the EC is that the issues in this dispute are so serious that, if the members reject the 5% offer in a consultative ballot, it will warrant a ballot for strike action. We need to show the strength of anger of FBU members and make it clear to our employers how serious we are about the need to achieve a fair pay settlement. However, as in previous disputes, an additional ballot for action short of strike would also be under constant consideration as the dispute develops.
WHAT DO WE WANT/WHY AREN’T WE TABLING A FIXED PERCENTAGE COUNTER-OFFER?
The obligation to make an acceptable and reasonable offer lies with the fire service employers. FBU members will decide what is – and what isn’t – an acceptable offer. It is not for the executive council or any individual official to decide that for them. We are a democratic union. That’s why we will be launching a consultative ballot for members to have their say.
The cost of living crisis is pushing up inflation rates rapidly and any pay claim made by the union could quickly be out of date.
We have learnt from past campaigns that setting “top lines” in negotiations is not always an effective negotiating tactic and can work in the employers’ favour.
Other unions in recent pay disputes have not set out fixed claims. We are clear that it is down to the employers to react to the concerns and demands of FBU members and to improve firefighter and firefighter control pay urgently.
WHO WILL DECIDE HOW LONG THE STRIKES ARE AND WHEN THEY HAPPEN?
Every member can input into the strategy and tactics of our action through their branch and the structures of the union. We take our democratic structures extremely seriously and want to hear the views of our members fed through their branch, brigade and regional structures. The executive council will then decide the strategy and tactics of any strike or industrial action, having considered these views on a UK-wide basis. Please make sure you have your voice heard by attending meetings and having your say.
IF WE GO ON STRIKE, DO I NEED TO PICKET?
Yes. Maintaining a high visual presence will assist us in our fight to have a fair and appropriate pay offer. Forming a picket, which we are legally entitled to do, will increase the visibility of our dispute and give the public and supporters a place to come to us and discuss our issues. This is something that rail workers and Royal Mail workers have done so successfully.
WHAT CAN I DO NOW?
Stay informed and discuss the issues with your workmates. Go to fbu.org.uk/ campaigns/fair-pay-or-fire-strike to get all the latest resources.
Update personal details
If you haven’t already done so, update your details (personal email, home address, workplace) with your brigade organiser or by emailing [email protected] and ensure all members at your workplace have done the same. In order to identify members correctly, please also include your date of birth, brigade and membership number (if you know it) in the email.
Organise watch, workplace and branch meetings. These are the most important meetings in the union and they make sure that every member is kept informed and can input into all the decisions of the union.
