12.10.1995

Firefighters vote to escalate action

IN AN overwhelming show of support Merseyside FBU members have voted to escalate their strike action to 24 hours. The vote was over 90% in favour of 24-hour strikes, with 1,160 voting for and only 122 voting against.

The ballot shows an increase in support for strikes above the 81% that voted for the original nine-hour stoppages. The first 24-hour strike has been called to coincide with the annual ‘Fire’ conference on October 18. A national demonstration will carry the strikers’ message to the conference in Harrogate.

The FBU has not ruled out ‘back to back’ strikes, giving a 48-hour stoppage. The fire authority and chief officer clearly misjudged the mood of FBU members when they broke off talks and refused to consider a two-page report submitted by the FBU. The report was a digest of an analysis by KPMG, the City accountants, of the fire authority’s finances. The accountants clearly showed that the financial crisis claimed by the Labour councillors was a smokescreen.

The strategy of the majority in the Labour group on the authority was exposed when Bill Craig, a Labour councillor from Liverpool, resigned. He claimed that there was a “hidden agenda to break the union”. This confirms the impression held by many FBU members that this is a battle without compromises that has to be won. Bill Craig’s resignation followed the leaking of a memo from the home office. The memo revealed that the firefighters supplied by the armed forces will not be able to cope with 24-hour strikes.

The dispute on Merseyside is fast becoming a test case for the whole fire service. It is also part of a new mood of resistance on Merseyside - the firefighters are on strike alongside dockers and residential social workers. On Saturday FBU members marched with dockers and social workers in a joint demonstration. Links with other unions need strengthening, as do links inside the FBU. Scabbing senior officers have already mobilised a retained (part-time) crew from an adjoining brigade to a fire. The retained crew did not fight the fire, but did turn out to it. The levy of FBU members remains small scale, when it should be involving station collections and be used to inform members of the progress of the dispute. The excellent ballot result should provide a platform to build on.

Chris Jones
Ex-chair of Merseyside FBU