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By Nick Holden
Fire Brigades Union (FBU) leaders are claiming a victory in the final stages of their two year long pay dispute. They say management are finally paying previously-agreed pay increases from the 2003 pay deal.
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By Joan Trevor
Pay talks between local authority employers and the Fire Brigades Union broke down at the start of August, with the union claiming that New Labour had packed a meeting to wreck them.
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By Nick Holden
As the dust settles from the FBU's decision last month to disaffiliate from the Labour Party, union activists continue to prepare for a possible strike over pay, with at least one hand tied behind their backs by their own union leadership.
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Anger at the Government's treatment of firefighters since the 2002 pay dispute came to a head on 17 June when the Fire Brigades Union conference voted overwhelmingly to disaffiliate from the Labour Party.
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By Nick Holden
After suspending conference on 11 May the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) exec went into extensive negotiations with the employers over the conditions they wanted to implement in stage two of the 2002 pay award.
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The Fire Brigades Union conference has voted approximately five to one in favour of disaffiliating from the Labour Party. A formal card vote is still being counted as I write.
The defeat of the union Executive's alternative proposal, to remain affiliated but open up the possibility of supporting some non-Labour candidates, was ensured by the members' utter frustration with being repeatedly let down by this once popular and reputedly left-wing union leadership.
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Resist the sell-out, reject the deal
Firefighters fighting further attacks on their terms and conditions found this week that the FBU leadership was intent on negotiating a deal which would open the door to changes in the four-watch shift system, and even allow fire service management the option of closing some fire stations overnight, even while it encouraged firefighters to risk suspension in pursuit of a union policy it no longer believed in.
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By Nick Holden
The conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) was suspended on its first day (11 May), following the collapse of talks between the FBU leadership and the employers over the implementation of the latest stage in the deal which brought the firefighters' strike to an end a year ago.
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The Fire Brigades Union estimates that unofficial industrial action (mostly work-to-rules or 999-only) is taking place in 85% of brigades across Britain. The action is underpinned by discontent over pay and conditions, and has been sparked by victimisations. As of 20 May, 47 firefighters in the Manchester area were suspended. The AWL urges all trade unionists to ring Salford Fire Station with messages of support: 0161 908 9703/01/02, or fax to 0161 908 9700.
