Fire Brigade Strike

[SB]

We have just come to the end of a 48 hour strike by all our full time firefighters. Some retained (reserve) stations kept going but for the rest of the country we have had to make do with 50 year old Green Godess military fire tenders (top speed 30 mph, no radios, 2 small blue lights on top and a bell( ), no siren and a small 30ft ladder) crewed by service personnel with little firefighting training and no rescue training (so cannot use the hydraulic lifting or cutting gear).

The FBU (Fire Brigade Union) want a 40% pay rise. They have been offered 17% and turned it down. The next strike is scheduled for next Friday and will last 8 days ( )

Have your firefighters been on strike where you are and if so, what happened. To give you an idea of what happened here in the last 24 hrs, amongst others, an old man died in a house fire last night. The house was 1/2 mile from where firefighters were standing outside their station on a picket line. They have said today they could have attended in 2 minutes. The Green Godess that did attend came from some distance away and took over 20 minutes to arrive.

What do ya think?

Oh, btw, the head of the FBU, Andy Gilcrest (earns the salary of someone 3 steps up the ladder from him because of his union work)has a poster of Che Guevarra in his office and his 2 deputies have been to Iraq and pledged "the support of the FBU in the socialist struggle of the opressed Iraqi people"

PS, Police officers over here, by law, cannot strike.

[Bill R]

The FBU (Fire Brigade Union) want a 40% pay rise. They have been offered 17% and turned it down.

They want a 40% raise???

[SB]

Yup. They don't earn as much as LEO's (who aren't exactly Bill Gates either) but the problem is the conditions part of the phrase, 'pay and conditions'

FF's here mostly work 4 day weeks, 2 days on, 2 nights on, 3 days off. On the 2 nights they sleep through at the station, with one FF awake to staff the teleprinter etc.
Some stations are busy, other aren't and it is not unknown for some stations to not get a call out all night. Others may role 3 or 4 times a night but to bin fires and hoaxes.
Even the leader of the Retained Firefighters Union (who voted not to strike but are being prevented from working by the FBU) said that being a cop was more dangerous now then being a FF.
The FF's are also permitted to take a second job, which LEO's can't.
Most people over here believe that they should get a pay rise but 40% is crazy.
All emergency service pay is poor in comparison to the private sector. I have 7 years service, work at the busiest station in London and earn less then a tube (subway) driver. Go figure. But would I strike and put peoples lives at risk.....I doubt it somehow. I knew how much the pay was when I joined, as did they.

[Delta_V]

The law prohibits public safety workers from striking in most states in the USA.

[Snoopy1]

I wonder if they feel a tiny bit guilty about the man who died.

[Oregon Mike]

Why do firefighters always want to tie their pay to that of the police? They're not the same job.

Mike

[OfcMikey]

I did Fire/EMS and now Le.
I did Le for free as a reserve for two years.
I made $28k in my last year in Fire/EMS.
Not gonna be rich in either job. I understand wanting more money.

However, I find it inexcusable to strike when peoples lives hang in the balance.
They should be ashamed of themselves.