Workers' Liberty

FBU ranks must organise
By Nick Holden

Fire Brigades Union members have voted to accept the staging of the second phase of their pay rise, with a three to one majority.


The ballot had a 56% turn-out, low by the FBU's standards, and was a major reversal since twelve months ago, when there was a nine to one majority for strike action to win a £30,000 salary for all fire fighters.

By Nick Holden

The simmering firefighters' dispute is reaching a decisive phase, with a consultative ballot over what both the employers and the FBU's negotiators claim is the 'final' offer.

Firefighters, postalworkers, Tube: Make it a Winter of Discontent!

By Gerry Bates

As Solidarity goes to press, more and more firefighters across the country are joining unofficial industrial action.

This battle comes just after the postalworkers' victory, through unofficial strikes, against Royal Mail bosses' attempt to impose unilateral changes in work conditions.

The unofficial industrial action by firefighters is spreading, with over half of the FBU's brigades involved by Friday morning (Nov 6th). The action was initially taken by FBU activists closest to the union's leadership, and saw some of the strongest areas of the union working normally, but there are signs that that is slowly changing.

As Solidarity goes to press, more and more firefighters across the country are joining unofficial industrial action.
This battle comes just after postal workers' victory, through unofficial strikes, against Royal Mail bosses' attempt to impose unilateral changes in work conditions.

The London Region of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has held a comprehensive post-mortem on the 30k pay dispute.

London region rejected the final offer from the employers, and its activists were among those who pushed the dispute along after General Secretary Andy Gilchrist threw up his hands - right from the start, you might say!

The FBU pay dispute ended on 12 June.

Worn down by government and media propaganda, and government threats to impose a settlement, and demoralised by their executive's refusal to fight, firefighters and control operators around the country had reluctantly accepted the employers' latest offer.

At a conference in Glasgow on 12 June their reps, most with great bitterness, respected their mandates and voted 3:1 for the executive's 'accept' motion.

Here we print the motion and those put up in opposition to it, and assessments by firefighters of the dispute and the future.

By Jill Mountford

The leaders of the Fire Brigades Union are yet again recommending that their members accept a pay offer which they have negotiated with the employers and which is backed by the Government.

A report from the CWU Conference and news from PCS, GMB, TGWU & FBU.

CWU conference: two narrow defeats for the left

By a delegate

The postal and telecom workers union, the CWU, met on 1-6 June. The General Conference:

By Jill Mountford
"Get the Braziers Ready", urges the headline of a recent letter sent out to Fire Brigades Union members from their London regional office.
London and Merseyside are among some of the regions that have rejected Professor Frank Burchill's proposals on the long-running pay dispute. Yet, on the eve of the National Executive meeting in Sheffield (15 March), FBU activists around the country say it's too close to call as to whether Burchill's proposals will be voted down at the Executive.

By Vicki Morris
What has 4,600 members and puts the wind up FBU General Secretary Andy Gilchrist?
Not the scab outfit the Retained Firefighters Union, that's for sure - contrary to its claims, it probably only has a thousand members. The answer is... a website.

The Fire Brigades Union Executive is due to meet in the week starting 12 May to consider FBU branches' responses to the Burchill proposals on pay, rejected by the employers, backed by the Executive, and condemned by militants in the FBU as scarcely different from the employers' offer already rejected by the branches. If the branches repeat their rejection, or the employers don't budge, then the Exec is mandated to plan new strikes.

By Jill Mountford

At a recall conference in Brighton on 15 April, Fire Brigades Union delegates overwhelmingly rejected a pay deal that had initially been recommended by their union leadership.

Brigades from all over Britain sent a clear message to FBU leader Andy Gilchrist that they will not accept a pay deal that has 'modernisation' strings attached.

When I look at where the firefighters stand now, it reminds me of where Tube workers stood two years ago. I think that what happened to us next is a useful warning to you.

In Spring 2001, we were battling against privatisation, had a huge ballot mandate, and had held a series of effective stoppages. Then our leadership attempted to foist a poor 'settlement' on us, but a reps' meeting voted to reject it and to call more strikes. Sound familiar?

War on two fronts?

As it made the final preparations for war on Iraq, the Blair government must have let out a collective sigh of relief. With the March 20th firefighters' strike cancelled and the FBU executive recommending that firefighters accept the employers' latest pay offer (16% over three years with strings), the threat of a major class struggle coinciding with the war seemed to have vanished. It looked like the government had effectively defeated the most significant piece of industrial action for years. That was until the FBU special conference went and ruined everything!

Jill Mountford spoke to Chris Jones, former chair of Merseyside FBU.

On 19 March, the special conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Brighton rejected an "improved" offer from the bosses in their long-running pay dispute. Their leaders had been desperate to have a 16%-over-three-years pay offer accepted and had recommended settlement. Just a week earlier the bosses had made a similar offer, and this had been rejected by the leadership!

Jane Clarke from the Bedfordshire FBU spoke to Jill Mountford just before the union's conference on Wednesday 19 March

The strength has been the membership, ordinary firefighters and fire control operators, who voted overwhelmingly, nine to one, in favour of strike action for better pay. The people who do a difficult and stressful job, for a wage that is not enough to keep a family on, have remained the strength of this dispute.

Below is the text of John Prescott's speech in Parliament today (20th March) threatening (probably no idle threat) to impose a pay settlement on the UK firefighters. The firefighters the day before had overturned their executive's recommendation to accept the employers' latest offer. See 30k Fire Pay for firefighters' views on all of this - and prepare solidarity with the firefighters!

In the last issue of Solidarity Chris Jones, former Merseyside FBU brigade chair and a member of the Revolutionary Democratic Group, looked at the background to the dispute. In this article he analyses the politics of the dispute. The article was written before the FBU suspended their strike action

Support Steve Godward!

By Vicki Morris

Firefighter Steve Godward was sacked in early February from the West Midlands Fire Service on trumped up charges relating to the FBU pay dispute.

In the first of two articles about the firefighters' dispute Chris Jones, former Merseyside FBU brigade chair and a member of the Revolutionary Democratic Group, looks at the background to the dispute.

In the next issue of Solidarity Chris will examine the questions of leadership raised by the dispute.

"It seems like we have been down this road before. I find it very hard to trust the Government and the employers… but I suppose we have to see what is on the table. I, however, don't believe that the Government want to find a reasonable settlement to this dispute...."
That is what Gary Thorogood, Group Secretary, Southern Command Group 4 (eight stations in south east London), told Solidarity after John Prescott promised open negotiations with the Fire Brigades Union and the union suspended strike action for the next few weeks.

By Chris Reynolds

plus Solidarity round-up

"The Government and employers' offer isn't in any way acceptable. It boils down to their wish list for the last 15 years, cuts, closures, downgrading the pension and so on for 4%. That isn't something we can negotiate on. Our action will continue till we get a decent wage increase without strings. In south east London our stations are solid."

From attack to defence - questions of leadership raised by the FBU dispute
By Chris Jones
(To read Part 1, click here. To download whole article as pdf, click here).

Part 2
Labour and Labourism - the political crisis behind the dispute

Well before the pay claim was set in place the membership of the FBU passed a resolution calling on the Executive to open up the political fund to organisations other than the Labour Party. A 'New' Labour was clearly in evidence in the FBU's dealings with councillors and in disputes in areas like Merseyside long before New Labour was elected nationally. The local councillors who controlled the fire service at a local level had a relative autonomy after the abolition of County Councils and used this to pursue an agenda that excluded the FBU and drew ever closer to the Chief Officers. The call for opening the political fund to other parties was the direct result of local FBU experiences with New Labour.

From attack to defence - questions of leadership raised by the FBU dispute
by Chris Jones (RDG) Former FBU Brigade Chair Merseyside
Part 1
(To download whole article as pdf, click here).
The FBU dispute has moved decisively into a new phase in the first month of 2003. The offensive led by the FBU executive against the erosion of firefighters?and control staff? pay has now become a defensive battle. Quietly the 40% claim has been allowed to fall out of sight. Now the 16% deal phased over two years, first tabled by the employers in July 2002, has become the favoured option. Symbolically the Morning Star has removed the 40% headline claim from its banner on the front page. The dispute is now as much about saving the conditions of FBU members and existing levels of firecover for the public as it is about pay. This is the root of the FBU? refusal to negotiate whilst the employers insist on acceptance of modernisation and the Bain Report as a precondition to a negotiated deal on pay. Following the worrying phoney war over Christmas, during which the FBU membership were left to drift, the FBU has begun to set out a policy of long-term guerrilla action taking the dispute forward into 2003.

By Jill Mountford
In preparation for war on Iraq Blair and have stepped up their war at home on the FBU. John Prescott's announcement to the Commons on Tuesday 28.01.03 makes the Government's intentions crystal clear - they've made the FBU pay dispute a political dispute in their drive to smash the FBU.

Official Fire Brigades Union bulletin
In the light of the employers' position and after considering all the options, the reps decided that there was no alternative but to push ahead with further industrial action.
Employers will be informed on Monday that the first such action in 2003 will be on Tuesday 21st January for 24 hours from 09.00 hours. Further dates will be considered by the EC Thursday next week.

• Government plans to decimate fire service

• Bain Report repeats the bosses message:
  Work harder and longer

• Unions should call a special Labour Party conference!

Matt Wrack of the London FBU spoke to Jill Mountford


JM: It's a long time since the last strike days. How do you think the membership are feeling? What are the prospects for further action?

Blair is out to smash FBU!

By Matt Wrack, London FBU

The FBU leadership has a mandate to strike for a £30,000 pay claim for firefighters and fire control operators, voted for by the membership at a rate of almost nine to one. That is a staggering result. It was achieved after months of campaigning amongst members; a clear illustration of the mood of a membership who want and need a decent living wage. That was almost four months ago.