Firefighters' strike a heartbeat away

The feeling at Bexhill fire station is said to be "very positive" about strike action - but only if all else fails.

Local Fire Brigades Union delegates returned from Monday's mass meeting in London despondent about the chances of their national pay claim being resolved without strike action.

The union will recommend at a meeting in Manchester on Thursday a ballot for the first national strike since 1977.

Firefighters Mark Mitchell, Ady Carrick, Gary Alexander, Andy Chambers and Charlie Richards had travelled to London with 200 other firefighters from East Sussex.

They joined around 7,000 other colleagues from around the country at Westminster to demand a new pay formula.

They described the meeting between the National Employers and FBU officials as a "last-ditch" attempt to avoid industrial action.

In a statement later they said: "The only time there has been a national fire service strike was over 25 years ago and, as a result, a pay formula linked to male manual workers was introduced.

"Unfortunately, with the decline in the manufacturing industries, it has become harder to find groups of workers with whom to calculate increases in pay.

"This, together with the fact that the firefighter's role has changed considerably over the last quarter century, has meant that the original pay formula agreed after the strike in 1977 has become redundant.

"Qualified firefighters after five years service receive 21,500 a year. For this they are expected to carry out difficult and often dangerous work.

"It is now likely that the Fire Brigades Union will recall its annual conference and ballot its members for national strike action."

The FBU claim amounts to a 39.5 per cent increase. The Fire Employers have offered four per cent.

Fire Employers' chairman Cllr Ted George said on Tuesday: "It is extremely disappointing that there has been no agreement today. But there is no need for the union to escalate our disagreement into a life-threatening strike.

"There is a way to resolve the situation without putting the public in the middle.

"We have put forward some modernisation proposals to improve the fire service's capacity to save lives.

"The union prefer only to talk about the 39.5 per cent pay claim, which we cannot afford. With inflation running at just 1.5 per cent, such a claim is unrealistic.

"Surely, the solution is for a speedy independent inquiry to look at all these issues and assess the merits of each side's case. They could judge the kind of fire service we need and how it should be fundeded.

"Employers would abide by the recommendations of such an inquiry. If the union are confident about their case, surely they could do likewise...."

The Government's has suggested an independent inquiry might provide a solution. The Fire Employers say this offers a sensible way to avoid strike action and that they would abide by the outcome.

The Government is dusting off its 500 "Green Goddess" stand-by fire appliances. Last used in 1977, the museum-piece Bedfords are now 50 years old.

Bexhill is a "day-manned" station. A team of 13 whole-time firefighters is backed by 12 retained (part-time) colleagues. All the whole-time and most of the retained firefighters are FBU members.

The station also provides rope rescue services for the entire East Sussex Fire Brigade area. Every member is trained in specialist work which can involve abseiling off high buildings or down into wells and silos.

Station FBU representative Mark Mitchell said: "The feeling on the station is that nobody really wants to take part in industrial action of any kind.

"They really want the issue to be resolved by the union and the employers talking together.

"We will see what happens at the re-call conference. We will probably be balloted on strike action. It is up to the individual membership to vote how they want to go.

"There is a very positive attitude here towards voting for industrial action but we don't know what form that could take. It could be one-day strikes or all-out.

"Last year Bexhill firefighters responded to 907 calls. Ten years ago we received 500. That's nearly double and it is a measure of how pressure is going up all the time - and the number of calls will increase as the population increases and the number of cars on the road increases."