Firefighters threaten further strikes over pension changes

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/25/firefighters-strike-pension-changes

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Firefighters across England and Wales have threatened further industrial action after claiming "solid" support for an initial four-hour strike in a heated row over pension terms.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) from all regions left their stations at noon and set up picket lines, leaving brigades to roll out contingency plans.

Some brigades, including London and Surrey, employed private contractors to cover for the strikers, while others relied on retained firefighters and volunteers.

Military "green goddess" vehicles, which were used as cover in previous disputes, are no longer available after being sold or donated several years ago.

No major incidents were reported during the first national walkout for a decade. London FBU said it received 84 emergency calls over the strike period, with its contingency crews attending eight incidents.

The union's executive is expected to meet on Thursdayto consider its next move and has not ruled out further industrial action if the dispute continues.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: "This was solidly supported strike action by firefighters across England and Wales. It has demonstrated their anger and their determination.

"This strike was a last resort after the government refused to negotiate – and a warning shot that firefighters are serious about keeping a fair, safe and workable pensions scheme.

"Firefighters across the country are reporting a fantastic response from the public, who seem to understand that the government's proposals on pensions are ludicrous.

"We haven't ruled out further industrial action, but let's hope common sense wins out, public safety is put first and the government comes back open to compromise," he said.

The union is campaigning against changes it says will mean firefighters will have to pay more into their pensions, receive less in retirement and work frontline duties until age 60.

But the government maintained the changes were fair.

Fire minister Brandon Lewis said: "The government has listened to union concerns. Firefighters will still get one of the most generous pension schemes in the public sector.

"A firefighter who earns £29,000, and retires after a full career aged 60, will get a £19,000-a-year pension, rising to £26,000 with the state pension.

"An equivalent private sector pension pot would be worth over half-a-million pounds and require firefighters to contribute twice as much."

As the strike ended Lewis tweeted: "I would like to thank all the #firefighters who reported for duty and worked hard to protect the public during the FBU strike today."

Almost 80% of FBU members voted in favour of industrial action in a ballot that ended earlier this month.

David Pitt and his son – firefighters at opposite ends of their careers with 30 years service between them – said joining the strike was out of "desperation" rather than any "militant" desire.

Pitt, 52, who is a watch commander and an operational firefighter with 26-and-a-half years service, said the government's own experts had concluded raising the retirement age would risk the loss of frontline fire crew.

"We're desperate, we're not militant," he said, outside West Bromwich fire station in the West Midlands.

"I believe the changes the government want to bring in – making firefighters work until their 60s – will compromise the safety of the public and result in more deaths of members of the public from fire and other major incident and also deaths to firefighters," he said.

"I would hope that the government have just failed to see the facts, and hate to think they are being callous, especially with members of the public's lives."

His 25-year-old son, also called David and a firefighter in West Bromwich, agreed the changes were a big worry.

He said: "For some of the older firefighters at the station I can see that as they get older their fitness is declining and no matter how hard you are training in the gym you cannot make up for that.

In Eastbourne, East Sussex, Scott Saunders, 43, works as a project officer. He said the government was "moving the goalposts" on pension entitlement.

"I joined the fire and rescue service to work in the community, set myself up with a good career and end up with a nice pension at the end of it," he said. "That's what I signed up for. They are changing all that now. I'm being asked to put my community at risk by working at a later age … It's not right."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady, who joined a picket line in Brighton, said: "Being able to save people from burning buildings or rescue them from the scene of a multiple vehicle pile-up requires not just bravery, but a good deal of physical strength too.

"There won't be many members of the public who would feel confident about being rescued from a serious fire if the only route out of the inferno was down a ladder on the back of a firefighter who was about to turn 60.

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