A grievance appeal panel has conceded that South Wales Fire and Rescue Service treated firefighters unfairly when they reduced a compensation package to be paid for three years instead of five.
The compensation package was paid as a result of downgrading Cowbridge fire station, where the firefighters worked, from Day Crewing to RDS.
An existing agreement between the Fire Brigades Union and fire service gives firefighters a non-detrimental package for five years in order to cover increased travelling costs and loss of potential earnings.
Jo Byrne, chair of the FBU in South Wales, said: “This is a wonderful victory for FBU members not only at Cowbridge fire station but in the service as a whole.
“All firefighters should be treated fairly by the service and Cowbridge members have now been awarded what is rightfully theirs.”
Cowbridge fire station was the last Day Crewed station to be downgraded as part of South Wales Fire and Rescue Services’ Risk Reduction Plan.
Firefighters from all the stations closed beforehand were given full packages that would run for five years.
The appeal hearing on 11 December 2014, overturning a previous ruling, concluded that firefighters had been treated unfairly by having their non-detrimental package reduced from five to three years.
Firefighters from Cowbridge fire station will now receive two further years of payments.
