Strike ends as FBU accept 16% pay rise

The firefighters nine-month strike has finally ended after union officials agreed to accept a 16% pay rise linked with modernisation – bringing average pay for qualified fireman to £25,000 a year.

The FBU agreed an increase of 4% for all ranks to be backdated to November 7, and from October 31, a 7% increase will be imposed, followed by a 4.2% rise from July 1 2004 – bringing about the annual salary of £25,000.

The offer will also provide parity of pay for retained firefighters and a two-year pay formula linking firefighters salaries to associate professional groups of workers for the first time.

The Local Government Association welcomed the breakthrough and said that the "real work now begins to deliver the service improvements that the fire authorities believe to be long overdue".

Jeremy Beecham, spokesperson on behalf of the fire employers, said: “I have no doubt that the FBU recognises that there is a great deal of urgent work in the coming months. This agreement will allow the employers and the FBU to work cooperatively in a real partnership in order to deliver improvements as quickly as possible.

"Change can be a frightening process, but the employers have always asserted the importance they place on ensuring that change is in no way detrimental to either the general public or the workforce personnel. This agreement will deliver an even better service with a generous reward package that recognises the professional skills of our firefighters."

The union had been seeking a 40% increase which would deliver a £30,000 annual pay cheque for qualified firefighters, however, the government and local government employers rejected this out of hand.

The last straw for the FBU came in March when, in the build up to war in Iraq, the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said that he would invoke legislation (passed in World War II) allowing the government to impose a settlement on the fire service. He also warned that any settlement he imposed did necessarily have to equal the 16% package that was on the table.

The conclusion of the fire strike will be warmly welcomed by local authorities, but less so on the picket lines where some firefighters voiced their feeling that they had been betrayed by the union leadership.

(GMcG)