Vote ‘Reject’ to 5%
PAY
For the last couple of months, I’ve been on the road, meeting and talking to members as part of the pay campaign.
Up and down the country, members have told me loud and clear that they have had enough.
Enough of pay cuts, enough of being insulted by this government, and enough of being taken for granted.
We know that the mood is changing. Workers across every sector have had enough and are standing up to fight for what is rightfully theirs.
Firefighters and control staff are no different.
Through the strength and solidarity of our members we won a revised offer of 5% from employers, but it’s still not good enough.
We’re a democratic union and ultimately it is members who will decide on the strategy of the campaign, so we are launching a consultative ballot so that you can have your say.
The consultative ballot will begin on Monday 31 October and run for two weeks.
The result of the ballot will determine the next steps of the campaign and if there is a mandate from members to ballot for strike action.
This is your opportunity to have your say, to vote “Reject” to 5%.
Talking to members, I know there are concerns around the funding of any pay offer and talk from chiefs that this will result in cuts to resources and services.
For the union, firefighters’ pay and decent fire and rescue provision should not be an either/or situation. Any attempt to paint it as such is entirely wrong.
We have always maintained that we need a properly funded fire and rescue service that includes fairly paid professional firefighters and control staff and enough resources to tackle the challenges we face as a service. We will continue to fight for both.
The FBU commissioned Incomes Data Research (IDR) to assess the trends in firefighters’ pay. IDR found that since 2009, using the CPI measure of inflation used by central government, firefighters had lost around £4,000 over that period.
WIDER ATTACKS
FBU members also face wider attacks. In May 2022, the Westminster government launched its white paper on “fire reform”.
Ministers threatened to instigate a review of the NJC, with the chief fire inspector in England advocating a pay review body instead of the existing collective bargaining arrangements.
Ministers also want to impose new roles on firefighters, with no money offered in return.
They want to give chief fire officers a free hand to make firefighters do any work, irrespective of safety and training.
After savage cuts, reducing the workforce by a fifth, firefighters already face pressure to widen their role maps without any compensation, made to ride under-crewed fire engines, change their shift patterns and other attacks on conditions.
ACTION
The FBU is clear that this action is about need, not greed.
The union cannot stand aside while firefighters and emergency control staff face worse living standards now and for the years ahead.
Taking strike action is always a last resort. But our employers are increasingly leaving us with no choice.
