Employers in last-ditch talks with firefighters union

Speculation is mounting that the Fire Brigades Union will be offered a 16% pay rise by national employers at this afternoon's negotiations in London.

The FBU had made it clear that 16% would represent the "significant" offer necessary for the union to rejoin talks with national employers. However, whilst these latest reports – which are being broadcast by the BBC – have yet to be confirmed by union officials, the FBU's Northern Ireland spokesperson Jim Barbour said at midday today that 16% is certainly "not on the table".

The figure has been circulating from last June and, despite protestations to the contrary, it has been claimed that the government overruled national employers in making such an offer.

The FBU has mollified its stance recently and Mr Barbour went so far as to say that the union's approach was close to the government.

He said: "The FBU have always been in favour of modernisation to improve the service to the public… Indeed, our position is not dissimilar to the government in their draft White Paper of 2001."

The 16% proposal, if confirmed, would represent an extra £1.4 million in spending from central government for the province's firefighters. The hike would see wages climb from £21,000 to £25,000 a year.

However, Mr Barbour once again dismissed the Bain report's proposals – which had been billed as the basis of further talks. Sir George Bain had offered firefighters an immediate 4% rise with a 7% top up next November, and linked any rise to the modernisation process.

"The Bain version of modernisation is really just a tired old attempt to do down the position of the service – it's not really about modernisation at all," Mr Barbour said.

"The Bain report sabotaged talks that had been making significant progress some weeks ago. We believe the strike never needed to take place in the first place. And the Bain report precipitated the first firefighters strike in 25 years, so as far as we're concerned the Bain report is a dead duck."

Earlier today, FBU General Secretary, Andy Gilchrist, said: “We are still waiting for a phone call to demonstrate that there is a real political will on the part of our employers to negotiate a settlement to this dispute."

"Our opposition is not to modernisation but to cuts which will cause the standards of service to the public to deteriorate."

The next strike is planned to start tomorrow at 9am and will run until Saturday November 30.

(GMcG)