Firefighters have voted to strike against the government’s ‘unworkable’ pension scheme proposals that could lead to thousands facing the sack simply for getting older.
78% (18,277) voted in favour of national strike action in ballot results released today.
FBU members decided to ballot after almost two years of negotiations when government in Westminster set a 12 July deadline for their proposals to be accepted — or face imposition of the changes.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “We cannot expect large numbers of firefighters in their late-50s to fight fires and rescue families without creating danger to the public and firefighters.
“We have repeatedly raised safety concerns and provided strong evidence to back it up but the government just isn’t listening.
“This result is a clear indication of the anger felt by firefighters. It’s still not too late for common sense to prevail if the government are willing to return to the negotiating table. None of us want a strike, but we cannot compromise on public and firefighter safety.”
The government’s own figures have shown that thousands of firefighters could face the sack without access to a proper pension simply because they are getting older.
The FBU argues that firefighters are being asked to pay far more into their pension scheme, although more than half will be sacked before they are able to retire.
A recent government review found that over half of current firefighters between the ages of 50 and 54 are no longer able to meet fire and rescue service fitness standards for fighting fires. Beyond the age of 55, two thirds fail to meet the standards.
And although the government has previously claimed that older firefighters could be moved to less physically demanding roles, FBU research found only a handful of ‘redeployment’ opportunities in fire and rescue services, meaning mass sackings would be inevitable.
Alongside the imposed changes to retirement age, government is proposing severe reductions to firefighter pension benefits. Under current proposals, firefighters who retire or are forced out of work at age 55 will lose significant amounts of their pension.
Firefighters already pay some of the highest pension contributions in the UK public or private sector and have seen increases for two consecutive years. The majority of firefighters already pay over 12% of their salary in contributions with further increases due next year. This will mean some firefighters now face an increase six years in a row.
Firefighters also argue that the government’s financial projections are flawed. They are based on a prediction of a 1% decline in pension sign-up, but their own information suggests that over 25% of whole-time firefighters recruited last year chose not to join. The FBU has warned these figures clearly demonstrate that changes to the scheme are already having an impact and, if the trend continues, that the financial viability of the scheme will be seriously undermined.
The FBU has today received some proposals from the Scottish Government which require further clarification and consideration. The union has not yet set strike dates and will seek further dialogue with the relevant government ministers and fire service employers in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
