Firefighters from across the UK will descend on Westminster on Wednesday (26 March) to lobby their MPs over issues affecting them and the fire and rescue service.
Around 200 Fire Brigade Union officials will be present at the event, which will begin in committee room 14 at 1pm, finishing at 3pm.
Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “Firefighters’ campaigns over pensions and cuts continues, and it’s vital that we compliment industrial action and vibrant local campaign work with a serious engagement of decision makers in Westminster.
“Over the last few years we’ve been pleased to find allies among MPs around the UK who realise the devastation that cuts to fire and rescue services are creating in their constituencies — and the injustice of the unfair pension scheme that the government is imposing on firefighters in their communities.
“It’s important that we all stand together in the name of public and firefighter safety, whether the families marching against fire station closures on their streets, or the politicians fighting for more effective responses to flooding within national politics.”
Firefighters will raise:
– Flooding: 70% of England’s fire and rescue services were involved in recent floods, but there is still no clear duty for them to respond to floods (unlike in Scotland and Northern Ireland) and funding and resources are still not adequate for the threats faced by local communities.
– Cuts: There have been 3,845 firefighter job cuts across the UK since 2011. This had the effect of slowing down responses to 999 emergency calls and increasing the risk to communities.
– Pensions: firefighters have seen three years of pension contribution increases and are facing a fourth. Government is proceeding with plans for an unworkable pension scheme for the future.
The union representatives will meet the next day to consider the next stages in their campaign work.
