Each autumn, delegates from the FBU attend the conferences of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Labour party and others to put forward our case. Firefighter takes you through some of the highlights
Winning a sustainable future for the fire and rescue service – and decent pay and conditions for firefighters – cannot be done only through action in the workplace. It requires firefighters to link up with other workers and trade unionists, and to build alliances with other workers to win political change.
This was likely the last “conference season” before the next general election, and so was a key opportunity to intervene on behalf of firefighters.
FIRE AND RESCUE
TUC congress took place this year on the banks of the Mersey in the ACC Arena in Liverpool between 10 and 13 September. Hundreds of delegates attended, between them representing millions of workers.
As well as intervening on a wide range of issues such as the climate emergency and the Covid 19 pandemic, the FBU submitted two main motions. The first was on the future of our own industry. It passed, meaning that the whole TUC is now committed to backing the FBU’s campaigning in our industry.
BEATING THE ANTI-UNION LAWS
The Minimum Service Levels Act is one of the worst attacks on workers in decades. It enables employers in key sectors – including fire and rescue – tocompel workers to attend work on strike days, despite there being a democratic mandate for strike action.
The FBU has mobilised with other unions to fight this law in parliament, and we are now leading the development of a strategy to rid ourselves of it: to get it repealed when the government changes and, in the meantime, to make it unworkable.
This is not about asking any set of workers to defy the law on their own, but to build a mass movement of non-compliance which could render it useless. TUC congress endorsed our strategy in Liverpool.
TUC PRESIDENT
At the end of TUC congress, Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, was elected to serve as the TUC’s new president. He will chair the TUC general council for the coming year, and preside over congress in 2024.
He said: “On behalf of firefighters, I am proud to be taking up the role of TUC president at what will be a decisive moment for the trade union movement, in the wake of an inspiring wave of industrial action across the economy.”
A NEW DEAL FOR WORKING PEOPLE
The Labour party conference took place on 8 to 11 October – at the same venue as the TUC. As the party prepares for the next election, we joined other unions to fight for workers’ rights.
Under the Tories, wages have fallen and public services have been left starved of funding – as firefighters across the UK will testify.
The FBU helped to propose a motion that commits Labour to implementing a “new deal for working people”, which was first launched last year.
Because of this work, the Labour party conference has now reaffirmed its support for collective bargaining across the economy; ending fire and rehire; repealing the Minimum Service Levels Act and the 2016 Trade Union Act; and much more.
The day before the main conference, Labour women’s conference convened. The FBU was represented by executive council member Val Hampshire. The conference overwhelmingly voted to endorse the FBU’s Equality Matters campaign and our Fight for 52 campaign on maternity leave.
FRINGES AND STALLS
Not all of the action at these conferences happens on the main stage. The FBU ran a stall where members engage delegates and visitors on our campaigns.
The Fight for 52 campaign for maternity leave was very popular with delegates, as were campaigns around breathing apparatus policy, the Merseyside dispute and cuts in Scotland.
Activists from Scotland, Merseyside and elsewhere visited the conference in addition to the FBU delegation to talk to delegates about their campaigns.
The FBU also took part in a number of fringe meetings on workers’ rights, immigration policy and civil liberties. Matt Wrack and other officials spoke at more than a dozen fringe meetings and rallies at the conferences, delivering our message to hundreds more trade unionists, politicians and decision-makers.
OTHER BIG CONFERENCES
As well as Labour and the TUC, the FBU also attended two other key conferences this autumn.
The national Hazards conference, which took place at Keele University in early September, is one of the biggest gatherings of trade union safety reps in the country. The FBU used it as an opportunity to speak to others about our health and safety campaigns, and we won an award for our work on DECON.
The Emergency Services Show in Birmingham in September was an opportunity for us to engage decision makers in the fire and rescue sector. The FBU focussed its energies on the Fight for 52 campaign, which was popular.
The FBU is its members – and while the union does work lobbying work at a UK-wide level, it is down to firefighters on the ground to really push their local politicians for the change we need.
