Fire Brigades Union:

Firefighters continued to respond to emergencies on one of the busiest nights of the year but unofficial action continues.Firefighters across the region continue to respond to emergency calls but the bitterness at the manner in which they have been treated grows.

Dean Mills the FBU Regional Secretary and an operational firefighter said that he was completely puzzled as to why the employers yesterday were referring to an agreement of September 18th which set out the changes proposed and conditions which had to be met but made no mention of the Audit Commissions stated position.

Mr Mills said “My members are rightly angered at the employers response and their statement that the Audit Commission had to complete its work before the pay agreement would be paid.

On 10th October Martin Evans, the Director of Audit Policy at the Audit Commission, wrote to the FBU General Secretary Andy Gilchrist and said in his letter ‘I am happy to confirm that the Commission will not be making a recommendation as to whether the pay award should be made. This is a matter for the employers to consider individually and collectively’.

Mr Mills said he did not understand why, if the Audit Commission were not going to make a recommendation, the employers were saying they would not honour the pay agreement until the Audit Commission completed its work.Firefighters reached a settlement following their recent dispute which set out a 7% rise to be paid on November 7th.

The employers have refused to honour the negotiated position and have instead told firefighters they can have only ½ the agreed settlement.As firefighters and control staff continued to work Mr Mills said he hoped the unofficial action being taken would not escalate but that he understood why firefighters were reacting due to the way they had been treated.

Mr Mills said “Firefighters and Control Staff had acted honourably and stuck to their side of the bargain. The same could not be said of the national employers.”

For further information contact

Dean Mills, mob 07956 502585, Regional Office on 01494 513034, email:deanmills@hotmail.com