On Wednesday 23 April, fire minister Brandon Lewis, wrote to the Fire Brigades Union. Although expressing his gratitude for the collaborative way in which the FBU had worked with the government, the letter did not contain a revised offer on firefighters’ pensions. The letter was discussed by the union’s executive council on Thursday 24 April. Later that day, FBU general secretary Matt Wrack replied to the minister expressing the union’s disappointment that, despite long discussions, the government had proven unable or unwilling to improve its proposals and that in light of these unresolved issues, the FBU’s executive council had called further industrial action.
After the union announced strike dates, a further letter was sent by the minister to the FBU, saying that he was choosing to interpret the decision as the close of discussions. The union replied on the 30 April, asking the minister to work with them “to avoid industrial conflict and urgently set out revised proposals” for their consideration.
