 |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
| You will know by now that Firefighters
and control staff; the people who deal with 999 calls to the fire
service and start our life saving duties as soon as a call is taken,
are in dispute over pay. This is the first time for 25 years so
we can hardly be called unfair, impatient or militant! The only
time in the past we have been forced into action has been to protect
you from station closurers or fire engine and Firefighter reductions.
There are though some things about the Fire Service you may not have been aware of. This is a short outline of our claim for a fair rate of pay. At present Firefighters are paid as unskilled workers no matter how long we train or serve for and no matter how many exams and qualifications we pass. We are always paid as unskilled! You may have seen or heard that we have asked for almost 40% as a pay adjustment. When you consider that it has been 25 years since the last adjustment is it any wonder it is quite a change? And it is NOT Firefighters who have suggested this change but independent sources and research. In fact are you aware that in the last 25 years we have had not one single increase to reflect every new and upgraded skill we have learnt in that time. Not one. No wonder the increase set by researchers is as it is. It shows how far behind we have fallen. We get our basic pay and that’s it. No overtime, no weekend premium, no shift allowance, no unsocial hour payment for nights etc. Nothing. You may know or have heard that many Firefighters do second jobs. It’s quite true. Many don’t claim the state benefits they are entitled to and work instead at second or third jobs to make ends meet. Can that be right today? Your local Firefighters coming off of the second of 2 fifteen-hour night shifts and signing on the dole or signing on with an agency to go lorry driving or working in a warehouse? That’s the reality of our situation. I have been a Firefighter for almost 20 years. I have been burnt, injured, hospitalised and buried colleagues. I know many people would like to earn more than they do at present, to be honest who wouldn’t like more pay. All of us deserve a fair rate of pay for the job we do, but for the tasks expected of us today the pay certainly isn’t a fair rate for the job. Firefighters get no increase at all until they have started their 16th year and then we are given £18 a week increase before stoppages for those years of service to you. No Firefighter ever wants to take industrial action or strike but the Government have refused to adjust our pay from unskilled worker and instead offered us 25p an hour increase and an inquiry to see if we are worth a rise and if so what it should be. For part time Firefighters the ‘offer’ amounts to just 0.6p an hour increase in the pay for their retaining fee after their stoppages. Is it fair to expect someone to be on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year and reward this dedication by such an ‘offer’? There have already been 8 inquiries into the fire service in the last few years. Even inquiries into how inquiries should be carried out! We don’t need an inquiry to tell us we can’t afford to live on our pay at present. Even after serving you for 15 years a Firefighter could get a mortgage of £64, 500 on three times their annual wage. Where are we supposed to live and remember we have no other weekly pay at all. The basic rate is it. We also work a 42-hour week not the 38 industry set as a standard. This Government have lied and said that to pay us fairly would push up mortgage rates. They are trying to mislead you with spin, lies and deceit. Our rise would cost around the same as the price of buying a daily newspaper once a week. In fact, it would cost nothing at all if we were funded properly as we would then be able to reduce fires, fire deaths and injury even further. And the Government admit that! They said they agree with Firefighters that we should concentrate on saving life over property not the other way round. The Government completed a review of fire cover and they said they would move from the property base fire service we have now to a fire service based on life risk. When they completed the review they tucked it away and said they wouldn’t then do it due to cost. So much for this government caring about lives. They wouldn’t know truth, honesty and fairness if it hit them square in the face. As Firefighters we don’t want strike action we want action on pay. We don’t think asking to be paid what INDEPENDENT research has shown to be a fair rate of pay is being unreasonable. Since 1996 we have been discussing pay. We have had no adjustment since the year Virginia Wade won Wimbledon and Elvis died. We have been patient. We are skilled and deserve a skilled rate of pay. For us it amounts to £8:50 an hour after stoppages. We don’t think for the job we are asked to do every day that is being unfair. Local Firefighters want a properly funded fire service and properly equipped staff. We want a fair rate of pay for what we do and we want fire cover to be based on the risk to life not the risk to property. We don’t want the public conned into believing an inquiry is anything other than a device by the government to stall over our pay adjustment. Independent research and our own investigations show that we are underpaid and that we could save even more lives if the government funded us properly so we can protect the same people who elected them. I don’t want a strike. I don’t want to take industrial action. I simply want, along with all Firefighters and Emergency Control Staff, a fair rate of pay. Dean Mills Regional Secretary Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have any queries or want any more information please contact me on:
|
||||