Why firefighters have to strike

[Dirk]

Why firefighters have to strike

 

Firefighters love their jobs – but 12-hour shifts and fewer staff won't help to save more lives

 

Linda Smith

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 November 2010 19.00 GMT

 

 

On Monday, two of my colleagues were hit by vehicles that were driven into picket lines. But many stories focused on the "scandal" of having firefighters striking on bonfire night. This illustrates the battle that London firefighters have faced, and I want to set the record straight.

 

I am 47, and have been working as a London firefighter since 1985. I report to my station in Wandsworth to be on duty at 9am, where my colleagues and I are on constant emergency calls until 6pm. On top of always being available for the public, we train every day to keep our skills up to date and familiarise ourselves with risks. We install fire alarms, and counsel and reassure local residents by visiting their homes.

 

During night shifts, which are from 6pm to 9am, we also help other stations if they are short of staff – and we do not get much rest. Our work demands a high level of fitness, for us to be calm under pressure, and to be extremely resilient: it's a physical job where you can easily pick up injuries. We can't come to work if we are ill or injured, as we never know what demands will be placed upon us.

 

My station receives about 1,800 emergency calls a year – from fires in flats, houses and other premises to traffic accidents and chemical spills – as well as distress calls from people who do not know who else to contact for help.

 

After having worked for 25 years, I take home a measly £1,800 a month. The vast majority of us can't afford to buy a house in London. I work weekends, nights and often during Christmas, Easter and every other holiday. We used to receive seniority pay increments, but we did not this year. And our pay has been frozen for the next three years.

 

However, I love my job and am extremely disappointed that we have been bullied by our management until forced to take strike action. This year, the management has decided we should work to 12-hour shifts. When firefighters were surveyed, a whopping 97% of us said we disagreed with the idea. Why? Our lives are organised around our current shifts, and longer shifts would affect not only our own lives but those of our families.

 

Many of us would return home to sleeping children. We would have to wave goodbye to family time and any semblance of a social life. And we suspect that our management would eventually allow "differential cover", meaning fewer staff on call at night – which is when we have the highest rate of casualties.

 

The London Fire Brigade PR and communication team has already spent a good amount of money trying to persuade the public that those changes would save more lives, but this is utter nonsense. People who have never worked in fire stations are telling us what's best for us, and how to do our jobs. Public money should be spent on firefighters' work on the ground, not on misinformation campaigns.

 

Despite this our union remained eager to negotiate and had already put forward proposals in order to reach a compromise. Unfortunately, the management decided to invoke section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, which would allow them to legally sack us all, and to offer us re-employment contracts only on their terms. This extraordinary abuse of power is what forced us to strike. You can't negotiate with people who have a gun pointed at your head. We are united on this issue; I know of only three staff members out of the 5,557 threatened with the sack who have decided to work next weekend. Despite enormous pressure from the management, we will not back down.

 

Only when we announced our plans to strike were questions about our predicament raised in the Commons, and we received media coverage. The Daily Mail has been naming and shaming colleagues who have taken second jobs (which is allowed) to bump up their incomes, going as far as publishing their pictures. As if we should be ashamed to want to work more to make ends meet! We have been called greedy and lazy, and yet we have not been asking for more money; we are solely working to preserve a job that we know inside out.

 

We do regret having to do this on bonfire night – but if Santa Claus were going on strike, he wouldn't do it in February, would he? In the meantime, emergency services on Friday will be provided by a private company called AssetCo, whose staff do not have the same training as regular firefighters. Just ask yourself: who do you trust? Firefighters who love the job and want to preserve it, or the rightwing media who are trying to slander our entire profession?

 

Linda Smith has been a firefighter for 25 years

 

Comment is free | guardian.co.uk ... jobs-lives

[lifetime fan]

Why firefighters have to strike

 

Firefighters love their jobs – but 12-hour shifts and fewer staff won't help to save more lives

 

Linda Smith

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 November 2010 19.00 GMT

 

 

On Monday, two of my colleagues were hit by vehicles that were driven into picket lines. But many stories focused on the "scandal" of having firefighters striking on bonfire night. This illustrates the battle that London firefighters have faced, and I want to set the record straight.

 

I am 47, and have been working as a London firefighter since 1985. I report to my station in Wandsworth to be on duty at 9am, where my colleagues and I are on constant emergency calls until 6pm. On top of always being available for the public, we train every day to keep our skills up to date and familiarise ourselves with risks. We install fire alarms, and counsel and reassure local residents by visiting their homes.

 

During night shifts, which are from 6pm to 9am, we also help other stations if they are short of staff – and we do not get much rest. Our work demands a high level of fitness, for us to be calm under pressure, and to be extremely resilient: it's a physical job where you can easily pick up injuries. We can't come to work if we are ill or injured, as we never know what demands will be placed upon us.

 

My station receives about 1,800 emergency calls a year – from fires in flats, houses and other premises to traffic accidents and chemical spills – as well as distress calls from people who do not know who else to contact for help.

 

After having worked for 25 years, I take home a measly £1,800 a month. The vast majority of us can't afford to buy a house in London. I work weekends, nights and often during Christmas, Easter and every other holiday. We used to receive seniority pay increments, but we did not this year. And our pay has been frozen for the next three years.

 

However, I love my job and am extremely disappointed that we have been bullied by our management until forced to take strike action. This year, the management has decided we should work to 12-hour shifts. When firefighters were surveyed, a whopping 97% of us said we disagreed with the idea. Why? Our lives are organised around our current shifts, and longer shifts would affect not only our own lives but those of our families.

 

Many of us would return home to sleeping children. We would have to wave goodbye to family time and any semblance of a social life. And we suspect that our management would eventually allow "differential cover", meaning fewer staff on call at night – which is when we have the highest rate of casualties.

 

The London Fire Brigade PR and communication team has already spent a good amount of money trying to persuade the public that those changes would save more lives, but this is utter nonsense. People who have never worked in fire stations are telling us what's best for us, and how to do our jobs. Public money should be spent on firefighters' work on the ground, not on misinformation campaigns.

 

Despite this our union remained eager to negotiate and had already put forward proposals in order to reach a compromise. Unfortunately, the management decided to invoke section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, which would allow them to legally sack us all, and to offer us re-employment contracts only on their terms. This extraordinary abuse of power is what forced us to strike. You can't negotiate with people who have a gun pointed at your head. We are united on this issue; I know of only three staff members out of the 5,557 threatened with the sack who have decided to work next weekend. Despite enormous pressure from the management, we will not back down.

 

Only when we announced our plans to strike were questions about our predicament raised in the Commons, and we received media coverage. The Daily Mail has been naming and shaming colleagues who have taken second jobs (which is allowed) to bump up their incomes, going as far as publishing their pictures. As if we should be ashamed to want to work more to make ends meet! We have been called greedy and lazy, and yet we have not been asking for more money; we are solely working to preserve a job that we know inside out.

 

We do regret having to do this on bonfire night – but if Santa Claus were going on strike, he wouldn't do it in February, would he? In the meantime, emergency services on Friday will be provided by a private company called AssetCo, whose staff do not have the same training as regular firefighters. Just ask yourself: who do you trust? Firefighters who love the job and want to preserve it, or the rightwing media who are trying to slander our entire profession?

 

Linda Smith has been a firefighter for 25 years

 

Comment is free | guardian.co.uk ... jobs-lives

 

Good to see negotiations going well.

[Furmedge]

I have some sympathy with the firefighters, but their decision to go on strike on 5th November is going to lose them a lot of support from the public.

[lifetime fan]

I have some sympathy with the firefighters, but their decision to go on strike on 5th November is going to lose them a lot of support from the public.

 

Or demonstrate how important, well qualified they are and how much we rely upon them.

 

If advising them I wouldn't have gone for that date mind.

[She Knows It]

I've got no sympathy. They've had the same shift pattern for 31 years, and now they're kicking off because it's changing. For God's sake, how many other places of employment have never changed a shift pattern in over 3 decades? They're not being asked to work longer hours; their day shift will change from 9 hours to 12 hours and the current night shift will be reduced from 15 to 12 hours. They do 2 days of days, 2 days of nights and then have 4 days off.

 

I'm not disputing they do a great job, and put their lives in danger etc, but striking on Bonfire Night is a right cunt's trick.

[lifetime fan]

I've got no sympathy. They've had the same shift pattern for 31 years, and now they're kicking off because it's changing. For God's sake, how many other places of employment have never changed a shift pattern in over 3 decades? They're not being asked to work longer hours; their day shift will change from 9 hours to 12 hours and the current night shift will be reduced from 15 to 12 hours. They do 2 days of days, 2 days of nights and then have 4 days off.

 

I'm not disputing they do a great job, and put their lives in danger etc, but striking on Bonfire Night is a right cunt's trick.

 

Is the change in hours to increase public safety or save money?

[Cardie]

 

Is the change in hours to increase public safety or save money?

 

Is the reason they're opposed to a change in ours because it decreases public safety or because they get more money on night shifts*?

 

*I assume they do get more for night shifts?!

[She Knows It]

Is the change in hours to increase public safety or save money?

 

As far as I'm aware, they're on the same pay whatever shift pattern they do, and I'm not completely sure of London Fire Brigade's reasoning for it, though it's got to be financial somewhere along the line.

[lifetime fan]

Is the reason they're opposed to a change in ours because it decreases public safety or because they get more money on night shifts*?

 

*I assume they do get more for night shifts?!

 

As far as I'm aware, they're on the same pay whatever shift pattern they do, and I'm not completely sure of London Fire Brigade's reasoning for it, though it's got to be financial somewhere along the line.

 

My mate is a fireman and assures me LFB are on the same T&C as him but they just get a london weighting.

 

Nights do not 'earn' you more money at all. It is a stated salary in contract that reflects unsocial hours.

 

I'm happy to be proven wrong.

[Dirk]

I've got no sympathy. They've had the same shift pattern for 31 years, and now they're kicking off because it's changing. For God's sake, how many other places of employment have never changed a shift pattern in over 3 decades? They're not being asked to work longer hours; their day shift will change from 9 hours to 12 hours and the current night shift will be reduced from 15 to 12 hours. They do 2 days of days, 2 days of nights and then have 4 days off.

 

I'm not disputing they do a great job, and put their lives in danger etc, but striking on Bonfire Night is a right cunt's trick.

 

Ok. Unless you sign the terms and conditions to do 12 hour shifts, you will be sacked. I wouldn't sign it and I know you wouldn't either.

[Strontium]

I've got no sympathy. They've had the same shift pattern for 31 years, and now they're kicking off because it's changing. For God's sake, how many other places of employment have never changed a shift pattern in over 3 decades? They're not being asked to work longer hours; their day shift will change from 9 hours to 12 hours and the current night shift will be reduced from 15 to 12 hours. They do 2 days of days, 2 days of nights and then have 4 days off.

 

I'm not disputing they do a great job, and put their lives in danger etc, but striking on Bonfire Night is a right cunt's trick.

 

 

Can't disagree with a word of this

[Original202]

They haven't taken the decision to strike lightly - it's going to mean Table Tennis tournaments at stations up and down the country are going to be canceled with loads of games postponed.

[Liverpool lad]

Some awful comments in here

[She Knows It]

Ok. Unless you sign the terms and conditions to do 12 hour shifts, you will be sacked. I wouldn't sign it and I know you wouldn't either.

 

I would sign it, because I'd want a job and if I didn't there would be millions of unemployed who would gladly do it. It's not unreasonable as far as I can see. They work an extra 3 hours for 2 days a week, and work 3 hours less for 2 days a week. It's swings and roundabouts. If they were being forced to work extra hours for no more money, I'd back them; but they're not.

[Dirk]

I would sign it, because I'd want a job and if I didn't there would be millions of unemployed who would gladly do it. It's not unreasonable as far as I can see. They work an extra 3 hours for 2 days a week, and work 3 hours less for 2 days a week. It's swings and roundabouts. If they were being forced to work extra hours for no more money, I'd back them; but they're not.

 

I don't think you would at all. You wouldn't take being bullied by anybody, that's how your roll, even if the essence of their point has legitimacy.

[She Knows It]

I don't think you would at all. You wouldn't take being bullied by anybody, that's how your roll, even if the essence of their point has legitimacy.

 

You're confusing me with Dad! You're right, I will always stand up to bullies, but it makes sense to me that both shifts are equal lengths, and being told to do something entirely reasonable by your employer doesn't constitute bullying in my book.

 

As I said earlier, I've got masses of respect for firefighters, but I cannot condone them striking on Bonfire Night, and putting lives at risk. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

[Magic Sponge]

I've got no sympathy for them at all. They over stretched the Army by striking just before I deployed to Iraq, and instead of lads training for that, they were forced to cover the Fire Service, using 30 year old green goddess's.

[Liverpool lad]

What a shower of cunts wanting a healthy work/life balance

[lifetime fan]

I've got no sympathy for them at all. They over stretched the Army by striking just before I deployed to Iraq, and instead of lads training for that, they were forced to cover the Fire Service, using 30 year old green goddess's.

 

Because thats the firefighters fault isn't it?

[lifetime fan]

You're confusing me with Dad! You're right, I will always stand up to bullies, but it makes sense to me that both shifts are equal lengths, and being told to do something entirely reasonable by your employer doesn't constitute bullying in my book.

 

As I said earlier, I've got masses of respect for firefighters, but I cannot condone them striking on Bonfire Night, and putting lives at risk. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

Not when the probablity of fires isn't equal.

[WaltonRed]

They should strike nation wide.

[elBooth]

Some awful comments in here

 

Totally agree mate, cringeworthy.

[Magic Sponge]

 

Because thats the firefighters fault isn't it?

 

Errrrm.........yeh.

[Guest TesticleOReilly]

They haven't taken the decision to strike lightly - it's going to mean Table Tennis tournaments at stations up and down the country are going to be canceled with loads of games postponed.

 

See, this is exactly the type of bullshit statement that makes decent people cringe. Everyone knows they're too busy watching porn and wanking to be playing indoor ball games.

[She Knows It]

Not when the probablity of fires isn't equal.

 

And the probability of say, accidents, isn't? That doesn't stop doctors/nurses/paramedics working 12 hour shifts.

 

Are you a firefighter, LF? Why are they so strongly opposed to working shorter night shifts?