News

Following a campaign by FBU Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has agreed that retained duty system (RDS) FBU officials carrying out recognised “paid” trade union duties should be paid at the recognised rate of pay for their roles, and that this time should be counted towards...

Firefighters battled a wildfire in late May near Cannich, south of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Some 15 square kilometres burned in one of the largest blazes the UK has seen, with the plume of smoke visible from space. Nine fire appliances and a helicopter were deployed. Two FBU members were...

Hundreds of people attended a ceremony at Hereford cathedral on 13 May in a moving tribute to John Davies and David Morris, two firefighters who lost their lives in 1993 tackling a fire at the Sun Valley poultry processing plant in the city. Students from Hereford’s New Model Institute for...

The FBU has called for 12 months of maternity leave on full pay for firefighters. In a letter addressed to the fire service employers, the FBU said that many women feel they must return to work too soon as they cannot afford to stay on maternity leave. The letter also cited research finding that...

Just months after the settlement of the UK-wide pay dispute, firefighters are once again facing a battle – this time over cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Following the announcement of a “flat cash” budget from the Scottish government between 2022 and 2027, the service is...

As Firefighter went to press, the Minimum Service Levels Bill was on its way to becoming law Under it, “minimum service regulations” in fire and rescue, health, education, transport, nuclear decommis­sioning and border security will enable employers to sack union members if they do not work on...

Andy Dark joined the London Fire Brigade on 17 August 1981 and was enrolled in the FBU the next day. He became a branch representative in 1982 and became a member of the divisional level joint committees for industrial relations and health and safety in 1983. He became a divisional level FBU...

As firefighters rallied outside, Nottinghamshire council reversed £2m of cuts to the local fire service. FBU members in the region won this U-turn by taking action against the threat. Planned cuts would have seen several fire stations lose firefighters, cover time and appliances. After the initial...

Fire control and firefighter members in Cornwall have saved the service’s fire control centre through months of organising and campaigning. Cornwall council was planning to outsource emergency fire calls to outside the region. FBU members condemned this as a threat to public safety and vital fire...

The first budget of the Sunak government, delivered on 15 March, might have been an opportunity for the new Prime Minister to set out a change of course The government set out to “reassure the markets” after Liz Truss’s disastrous budget last autumn. But “reassuring the markets”, in the language of...