Features

Elected representatives from every brigade across the union gathered in Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel in May to decide the direction of the union for the year to come. This has been a momentous year. Since last year’s annual FBU conference, the cost of living has skyrocketed. We have had three prime...

Discrimination, harassment and abuse are a threat to health and safety, just like contaminants and unsafe working practices, says FBU vice-president and AGS elect Ben Selby Being a trade unionist is about knowing whose side you are on. When pay and jobs are cut by the government, we fight for better...

Ben Selby, the union’s newly elected assistant general secretary, and his friend and colleague Shaun Yates talk to Francis Beckett When the teachers’ trade union education centre in Lincolnshire, Stoke Rochford Hall, caught fire in January 2005, two of the first firefighters on the scene were 34...

National officer Mark Rowe spells out the current position on firefighters’ retirement prospects Pensions in the fire and rescue service have been under attack for decades. We are now expected to retire later and receive less. Much of this agenda has been pursued in the name of “modernisation”...

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack reflects on what the union learned from the recent pay dispute By now, most FBU members should have received their backdated 2022-23 pay increase of 7% and know they are due another 5% in July. Members overwhelmingly accepted the employer’s pay offer through the...

In the early hours of 6 February, massive 7.8 magnitude earthquakes hit southern Turkey near the Syrian border, bringing devastation to both countries. Buildings and huge swathes of cities were turned to rubble. Thousands of people were crushed to death, trapped in collapsed buildings, or instantly...

Firefighter Lorna Dodd represents Great Britain in the duathlon. She spoke to Steve Morgan Curiosity killed the cat, but an enquiring mind – and a dose of fabled Yorkshire grit – have been the making of Lorna Dodd. In March, the Halifax firefighter will represent Great Britain in the European...

Government’s legislation to stop public sector workers taking effective strike action is unprecedented since wartime, says the Institute of Employment Rights The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill has only six pages and, if and when it becomes law, would replace the Transport (Minimum Service...

Mark Rowe, FBU national officer explains how the public inquiry hearings concluded and what happens next The Grenfell Tower fire was the worst domestic fire in living memory, when 72 people died and a whole community lost their homes. This year, 14 June will mark the sixth anniversary since the...

FBU national officer Riccardo la Torre discusses the latest findings from FBU sponsored research on firefighting and cancer – and the need for an urgent response Discoveries in the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) latest research into firefighting and cancer, commissioned by the FBU, are...