The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has welcomed a manifesto pledge by the Labour party to end the 1% pay cap for workers in the public sector.
Firefighters and emergency fire control staff have suffered the longest period of pay restraint in living memory after the Conservative-led government in 2010 imposed a two-year pay freeze, followed every year since by a 1% pay cap.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, said: “This election offers a clear dividing line between a Tory government that will continue to grind down workers’ living standards or a Jeremy Corbyn led Labour government that will begin treating public servants fairly.
“It is unacceptable that in one of the richest countries in the world, highly trained professionals in the public sector are turning to food banks just in order to survive. Working people are struggling to pay bills while the prospect of making a decent living gets more and more out of reach.
“A Labour government will tackle the chronic problem of low pay by abolishing the politically motivated pay cap.”
Recent research published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) estimates that had firefighters’ pay kept pace with inflation since 2010, they would be earning £2,000 a year more.
Other commitments made by the Labour party include plans to repeal the Trade Union Act which severely curtails how trade unions can campaign for their members.
