Fire strike to begin tomorrow morning

Firefighters are to press ahead with their plan to strike for 48 hours from Tuesday morning as part of their long running pay dispute.

The announcement today by leaders of the Fire Brigades Union was made after several days of talks with local conciliatory agency Acas and the National Fire Service Employers failed to produce any agreement.

The stoppage, which will begin at 9am tomorrow, will be the fourth strike held by firefighters across the UK in just over two months.

It has also been confirmed another 48 hour stoppage, scheduled for this Saturday, February 1, will also now take place.

Local fire authority employers and the government are still pushing a review of the service by Sir George Bain as the basis of any settlement. However the FBU believes accepting the employers' proposals will cost 4,500 jobs and shut 150 fire stations.

Jim Barbour, Northern Ireland’s FBU representative who attended today’s last minute crunch talks in London, said “absolutely nothing new” was brought to the table.

“Our national employers have made it clear that any rise above 4% would be linked to reductions in staff and services across the board,” Mr Barbour said.

The FBU wants a 40% rise to boost firefighters' annual salaries from £21,500 to £30,000. But employers have stood firm on a 4% pay offer, rising to 11% over two years.

However Mr Barbour said the offer of 11% over the next two years was “spin” and would mean little in terms of real advances in the levels of pay for full or part time fire fighters.

Mr Barbour also said that last July and November, the FBU had struck a deal with Acas but that it became unglued due to government interference and their insistence of any pay rise being linked to a commitment to the Bain proposals.

“We are absolutely disgusted with the antics of the Blair government,” he said.

“It has now become a political dispute, with the Blair government hoping our strikes will keep war with Iraq off the front pages.

“We don’t want to strike. But we have to take a stand and firefighters across Northern Ireland will strike tomorrow, as will other men and women across the UK. Its just not about pay anymore, its about every single condition of our first class service being under threat.”

(AMcE)