Firefighters have expressed their ‘extreme concern’ over Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s plans for Wednesday’s strike.
Firefighters will walk out for four hours across the country on 25 September over ‘unsafe, unfair and unworkable’ pensions proposals by central government.
However, Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service have decided to prevent striking firefighters from accessing fire stations for the duration of Wednesday’s shift, meaning the county will be unnecessarily without most of its fire and rescue workforce for a nine-hour period.
Ricky Matthews, who represents the Southern Region on the FBU’s Executive Council, said: “We are extremely concerned about the implications of this decision for our members and the people of Buckinghamshire.
“The decision is completely unnecessary and displays an aggressive disregard for common sense.
We certainly don’t want this situation to erupt into a local dispute but there is a limit to how far the staff will be bullied and intimidated.
“The fire authority must change its stance and adhere to national guidance as other fire authorities have done.”
A national agreement is in place with government and employers for firefighters to be able to volunteer to return to work in the event of a major incident such as terrorism.
However, Chief Fire Officer Mark Jones’s decision to prevent firefighters from accessing stations will mean that this agreement will be impossible to implement in Buckinghamshire, with firefighters threatened with discipline and even court action if the strike is deemed to incur costs for the fire and rescue service.
Guidance from the National Fire and Rescue Service Employers issued recently advised fire and rescue services to allow firefighters to work and be paid for the rest of their shifts on Wednesday.
The FBU has reported that in other fire authorities chief fire officers are “actively engaging” with firefighters and union officials to look after the best interests of the fire and rescue service and the communities that that they serve.
