A meeting of representatives from fire stations across Greater Manchester has today agreed to step up the campaign against the threat to sack all shift based firefighters.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), said: “This is a disgraceful attack on dedicated and hard-working professional firefighters. Let's be absolutely clear, the Greater Manchester fire authority has now started the process to sack its workforce. We have heard councillors saying that this is not what is happening. If they haven't agreed this, they need to tell Mr. Keelan, who has issued the legal notice starting this process, to withdraw the notices.
“We are willing to negotiate changes, as we always have. However, we are not willing to be threatened with the sack in this way. We will now be undertaking a campaign using every legal, political and industrial weapon we have. That will include asking our members about the need for strike action.
“The approach taken by the fire authority will damage industrial relations for a long time and will undermine the morale and goodwill of Greater Manchester firefighters. We urge councillors to get a grip, withdraw these threatening notices and start proper negotiations.”
