The Fire Brigades Union has praised firefighters for their unity and determination during last night’s strike.
Firefighters across England and Wales walked out on strike between 6.30pm and 11.00pm in the dispute about pensions.
FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack said, “Firefighters have once again shown their determination to defend their pension rights and to campaign for a pension which reflects the job they do.
“We hope government will now sit down and negotiate a settlement to this dispute.
“So far Ministers have completely ignored the evidence in front of them. We hope this action will finally open their eyes.”
Responding to attacks on strikers by Paul Fuller of the Chief Fire Officers Association, Wrack said, “Without even having the courtesy of picking up the phone, Paul Fuller, on behalf of Chief Fire Officers has attacked strikers about one incident in East London.
“The management of the London Fire Brigade has been telling everyone for weeks that they have adequate arrangements in place in the event of a strike but they seemed incapable of putting them in place in good time yesterday.
“That was their responsibility not the responsibility of front line firefighters due to take strike action.
“Our members deal with incidents like that regularly and it was entirely foreseeable and should have been planned for by those in charge. The fact that they failed to do so is a matter Mr. Fuller should take up with them.”
Wrack also criticised Fuller over his failure to address abuse of pension arrangements by Chief Fire Officers.
This follows cases of Chief Officers taking pension payments and returning to work in the same role.
In a recent case, Fire Minister Brandon Lewis complained to Cambridgeshire fire authority about the pension, re-employment and salary of the Cambridgeshire Chief Fire Officer.
Wrack said: “It will not be lost on firefighters that Mr Fuller chooses to attack them for campaigning for their pension rights but turns a blind eye to utter abuse by those at the top who pay themselves the highest pension benefits and then turn up at work the next day doing the same same job on the same pay.
“It is utter hypocrisy.”
