Firefighters have started a strike ballot after there was no improvement on a five percent pay offer. It raises the real prospect of crews walking out over for pay for the first time in 20 years.
A union chief said today that after "years of derisory pay offers" firefighters were having to use foodbanks. He said the ballot was a "last resort" and urged the government to intervene to resolve the stalemate. Earlier this month, crews and control staff voted overwhelmingly to snub the offer in what union bosses said displayed a "remarkable strength of feeling". It was a three percent increase on an offer made in the summer.
Nationally 79% voted to reject the 5% offer, with 78% of eligible Fire Brigades Union members voting in the ballot. That ballot was a consultative ballot of union members on the 5% pay offer and not a ballot for strike action. Around 32,500 members took part in the vote.
But the stuation escalated today. Last week union bosses said they would formally issue notice of a strike ballot if “a substantial pay increase that takes into account the current level of inflation and the cost of living crisis” was not received by yesterday, after pay discussions had “failed to reach any resolution”.
In a statement today the Fire Brigades Union said: "No such pay offer has been received and notice of ballot has been sent to fire and rescue service employers. A formal dispute is now open. Firefighters and control staff have been offered a 5% pay increase, which they rejected in a consultative ballot. Annual CPI inflation currently stands at 11.1 percent."
The strike ballot is set to be open from Monday 5 December to Monday 30 January. If a national strike were to take place, it would be the first nsince pension action between 2013 and 2015 - which did not include control staff - and the first on pay since 2002-2003 when Army vehicles were deployed on the streets of Greater Manchester and soldiers responded to calls.
Manchester-born Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:“This is an historic ballot for firefighters and control staff. We are rarely driven to these lengths. Nobody wants to be in this position. But after years of derisory pay increases and a pay offer that is well below inflation firefighters’ and control staff’s living standards are in peril.
"We have firefighters using foodbanks – we know that because FBU officials have had to sign off on members going to them. Firefighters and control staff worked throughout the pandemic and firefighters took on extra duties including moving the deceased. They have now been given a below-inflation pay offer. It is utterly disgraceful to call people “key workers” and then treat them like this.
“Strike action is always a last resort, but we are left with no other option. We asked for a pay increase that takes into account the cost of living crisis and did not receive it. The ball is still in the employers’ and government’s court. We urge them to provide a decent pay offer and help bring this dispute to an end.”
Whilst UK governments have no direct role in pay negotiations they provide a substantial amount of the funding for fire and rescue service.
The FBU say the dispute got off to bad start on June 27th when fire service employers made "an insulting" pay offer of just two percent. The union says It came "after 12 years of government- imposed austerity and pay policy which has led to falling real wages". The offer was rejected by the union's Executive Council on July 18th.
Fire service employers wrote to the Home Office requesting additional funding to improve pay on August 2nd. The Home Office declined this request. Throughout August and September, the union ran a campaign entitled ‘Fair Pay or Fire Strike'.
On October 4th fire service employers at the National Joint Council (NJC) made a revised pay offer of a percent increase, But on November 14th in a ballot 79 percent rejected it.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which has responsibility for the fire service, and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have been asked for comment.
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