FBU

Fire Brigades Union

Letter: Listen and learn from workers

Ollie Moore ( Solidarity 666 ; longer version on web, shorter in print) seems to have learned nothing from the recent firefighters’ pay dispute. On 6 March, FBU members voted overwhelmingly by 96% on an 84% turnout to accept the offer, yet Moore still claims they were wrong and should have rejected it. Moore barely discusses the specifics of the firefighters’ pay offer, which included 7% for 2022-23. Nobody disputes that this is less than current inflation. CPI was 10% in the last 12 months; CPIH was 8.8%. But most firefighters also got increased Continual Professional Development and other...

Letter: Take risks, push the envelope

Jack Horner (Solidarity 664 , 22 February) rightly states that the pay offer the Fire Brigades Union has put to its members, with a recommendation to accept, “will likely be a real terms pay cut for 2022-23.” The offer is a significantly smaller pay cut than the ones initially proposed. And without doubt, the advance is a consequence of FBU members' resounding vote for strikes. Given these facts, and the FBU Executive Committee's recommendation to accept, it seems highly likely the offer will be accepted, and probably by a large majority. That recommendation is no sell out, and acceptance...

Letter: FBU - reject in the name of what?

The report on the FBU’s pay deal in Solidarity 663 had the whiff of toy-town syndicalism. Instead of interrogating the FBU’s strategy, it exhorts firefighters to strike for the sake of it. Solidarity ignores the specific industrial relations context. The FBU has UK-wide collective bargaining — the National Joint Council. It is under attack from Westminster, the inspectorate, chief fire officers and employers. The White Paper published last May is designed to weaken the FBU, while giving chiefs carte blanche. The Minimum Service Levels Bill may undermine firefighter strikes. Solidarity fails to...

Firefighters should reject offer

The Fire Brigades Union has called off plans to announce strikes, having received a pay offer of 7% for 2022 and 5% for 2023. The union will hold a consultative ballot from 20 Feb to 6 March, with a recommendation to accept the offer. The offer is a significant improvement on the original 2% in July, and there are no strings attached, but it is still a real-terms pay cut for 2022-3. The union has a strong mandate for action with 88% voting to strike on a 73% turnout, and the offer has been achieved without taking action. The primary reason for this is that each fire brigade is legally obliged...

Diary of a firefighter: On the eve of strikes?

Normally this time of year is the quietest — no grass fires, few barbecues, fewer drunk people passing out with the oven on after a night out. But the energy crisis has put people in some desperate situations, and some are resorting to extremely unsafe ad hoc ways of keeping warm when they can't afford to put the boiler on. Today, we're sent on a relief to assist fire investigation at a flat in a rather grand street in West London. An older woman lived there, who luckily got herself out before the first crews arrived. She was a bit of a hoarder so there were a lot of things around and it was...

Discrimination in London Fire Brigade

Socialists and trade unionists are appalled by revelations of discrimination and bullying captured by the recently-published Independent Culture Review into London Fire Brigade (LFB). The review, chaired by Nazir Afzal, was commissioned by London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe after the death of firefighter Jaden Matthew Francois-Esprit, who took his own life in August 2020. The review found that many women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic, LGBT+ and neurodiverse staff within LFB had experienced discrimination and bullying. Women firefighters had been groped, beaten and had their helmets filled...

Firefighters ballot 5 December to 23 January

Firefighters in the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted to reject their employers’ 5% pay offer by a 79% majority, on a 78% turnout. The FBU has now announced a 5 December — 23 January ballot for industrial action. A firefighter and FBU rep spoke to Solidarity . The result in the referendum speaks for itself, it’s a huge turnout with a huge majority to reject the offer. In the run-up, some people thought it was going to be closer than it was. But the outcome was clear. It shows there’s a clear appetite for a fight. There’s obviously a focus now on preparing for the strike ballot from 5 December...

Diary of a firefighter: Time to duck, or chance to win?

We’re in the mess, mugs of tea in hand and the remnants of beans on toast on the table. After months of silence while we prepare for a strike ballot, the employers have come back with an improved offer of 5%. Still a 5% pay cut, but enough of an improvement that the FBU is going to do anther consultative ballot. J says it’s a disgrace that it’s taken them so long to come back with this offer. “It’s still a big pay cut, actually the biggest one yet, after 12 years of crap and below inflation pay cuts. We’re already four grand behind where we should be. How can we accept that?” T sticks the boot...

Diary of a firefighter: 2% rise? Shove it!

“It’s a slap in the face.” “Shove it where the sun don’t shine.” Or, simply, “W*****s.” Like much of the public sector, we’ve received an annual pay offer of 2%. This follows 10 years of pay freezes or largely below inflation pay rises, leaving us 12-15% down even before this year’s inflation is considered. The union is consulting on the offer, which you can guarantee will be rejected. Some firefighters are frustrated by the consultation because it slows us down and pushes any ballot back. I’m sympathetic to that thinking. Summer is arguably the most strategic time to strike or ban overtime...

Fire Brigades Union renews call for public ownership of banks and financial system

The 2022 national conference of the Fire Brigades Union, the first physical one since 2019, restated the union's proposal for public ownership of the big banks and financial institutions, and called for the FBU to produce new material on it. See the motion passed below. This is a crucially important demand in the context of multiple crises we face, including the crisis of living standards and the climate crisis. You can read the FBU's 2012 pamphlet It's time to take over the banks here . A 2021 interview we did with its co-author Michael Roberts is here . Much more on banking and finance here...

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