2 August 2004
Today the Government instructed the London Labour Party
to wreck the Fire Service pay deal reached last week.
7 additional Labour Councillors turned up at the meeting in London
today breaking its constitution.
Members will recall the LGA writing to us in April saying that they
no longer wanted 16 councillors representing them but 9. This was
agreed yet today, out of the blue, 7 additional councillors, all
from the same part of London, attended.
None of these London councillors had ever sat on a fire authority
and were acting directly on Labour Party instructions. Indeed so
many councillors turned up that most did not know each other and
one actually asked ‘who are they?’ as he didn’t even know he was
to meet us as he had simply been instructed to attend the meeting
without a proper briefing!
The employers were to vote 10-6 and ratify their position stated
last week to end the Fire Service Dispute. The newly arrived Labour
Party members altered the vote to make it 13-10 against acceptance
thus wrecking the deal on direct orders from Whitehall and Westminster.
During an adjournment in the talks we returned to the meeting room
only to be informed that the employers had walked out following
questioning of their motives, actions and instructions by the FBU
Assistant General Secretary Mike Fordham.
I sat in 113 hours of face to face talks as one of the FBU national
negotiators. We reach agreement on each and every single issue the
employers had. They accepted our positions. We had AGREEMENT on
the new discipline procedure as the 1985 code is no longer in place.
We had AGREEMENT on the grievance procedure.
Both of these took many hours of detailed negotiations and are far
far better than the employers were going to impose as a reading
of the proposed ACAS code (on the ACAS web site) will prove.
We had AGREEMENT on stand downs on bank
holidays ensuring they were not treated as a normal working days
as members asked us to do. We did it. They agreed it. We accepted
the positions jointly.
We had these agreements and now the London Labour party have done
as they were instructed by Nick Raysnford. They have wrecked the
agreement. It is amazing that one single Fire Brigade has dictated
national policy and forced their position on 57 other Brigades by
turning up as a mob to alter the voting. It’s a total and utter
disgrace.
Talking of disgraceful acts, the Audit Commission inspectors were
ordered to change their inspection results in brigades. They refused.
So the moderators made the changes for them. All downwards.
And members will be shocked to find out that the audit commission
wrote to us and said they failed to publish their report as promised
on the 19th July “out of respect for the two firefighters who were
killed in London.” How on earth could they have known that two of
our members were going to die AFTER the 19th? Clearly they didn’t
even know our members had died on duty on the 20th. What a malicious,
disgraceful and contemptuous act. Using the death of two firefighters
to hide behind.
That’s the type of people who want a strike. That’s they type of
people we are dealing with.
Nick Raynsford bullied the London Councillors by threatening to
withdraw the £30 million transitional funding if a deal was
reached and he then left the Country thus making himself unavailable
for comment along with his ‘friend’ Val Shawcross, also of London,
who supported his attempts to wreck the deal last week. Members
can’t even question the bullies as they have run off as bullies
do. Cowards the disgraceful pair of them.
Even the BBC tried to contact Nasty Nick tonight and were told he
was ‘on holiday’ Asked for contact by telephone the BBC were told
‘unfortunately he doesn’t have any communications with him!!’ Neither
it seems does Vicious Val.
Additionally our 6 Brigade management teams, who I may differ with
frequently in some cases, may just a well pack up and go home or
find other jobs. Clearly our local councillors are no longer needed
as London can dictate everything and anything.
Arrogant, lying, bullying, immoral cowards and thieves. That accurately
describes London Labour Party members of the LGA, those who instruct
them, and those who support them.
I am sure members will show their utter disgust in the coming weeks
and in our ballot. If Nasty Nick and Vicious Val want to force a
strike they are succeeding. I hope they are exposed for what they
are and their careers end in tatters. It is no more than they deserve
for treating our members and the public the way they have.
I urge all members to support those councillors who support us.
Those who have stabbed each and every one of us in the back quite
simply have to suffer the consequence of their bullying , wrecking
actions.
Members have every right to be angry. I certainly am. Lets focus
that on where it needs to be directed.
We will demonstrate that we refuse to be bullied.
This region wont accept it and nor with the rest of the UK fire
service.
Dean Mills |
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