Firefighters in England and Wales will be on strike for three hours every day from tomorrow (Saturday) after Fire Minister Penny Mordaunt cancelled the talks due to be held yesterday, which might have found a solution to the long-running dispute over firefighters’ pensions.
Strikes will take place each day from Saturday 9 August until Saturday 16 August, between 12 pm and 2 pm and between 10.59pm and 11.59pm.
FBU Assistant General Secretary Andy Dark said today (Friday):
“Government proposals as they stand include a number of unacceptable elements including firefighters being forced to work until 60 – an age at which the enormous physical demands of the job are beyond most of us. Both sides have identified that there are possible solutions to these issues but the Government is unwilling to amends its proposals.
“Firefighters hate striking. We believe that Winston Churchill was right to say ’Jaw-jaw is always better than war-war.’ That is why we are astounded by the cancellation of the last-minute talks by Ms Mordaunt on Thursday.
“It is a bitter disappointment that she cancelled them and made this series of strikes inevitable.”
