The death of a firefighter appeared last night to have hardened the negotiating position of union leaders ahead of a meeting to decide whether to go ahead with an eight-day strike from next Wednesday.
Senior officials in the Fire Brigades Union said the loss of Bob Miller, killed tackling a Leicester factory blaze, had highlighted the dangers faced by crews seeking a 40% rise to £30,000 a year.
Andy Gilchrist, FBU general secretary, accused some local employers of playing down the risks posed to firefighters during the pay dispute. "It's absolutely insulting to read briefings about the fire service not being a particularly hazardous job when all of us are struggling to cope with the loss of a colleague on the job," he said.
The two sides held a minute's silence before Thursday's negotiations in honour of Mr Miller and both are acutely aware of the potential impact of his death at such a sensitive point.
A prominent FBU figure was particularly forthright, noting crews across the UK were aware that Mr Miller would not have been on duty the night he died if a strike suspended by the union had gone ahead. "We're not prepared to get killed for £6 an hour any longer," he said.
The FBU executive on Monday will decide whether to go ahead with Wednesday's stoppage after dropping two 48-hour strikes, including one this weekend.
Whitehall and local authority employers had played down the dangers faced by crews earlier in the dispute in an attempt to undermine the union's claim.
A senior council negotiator said firefighting was widely accepted as still a dangerous job and he praised the professionalism of crews.
The negotiations, he added, were delicately poised with the local authority leaders anxious to meet again. "The atmosphere has been constructive during the meetings and we need to build on that," he said.
The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, was briefed on the progress of this week's talks and is putting pressure on council negotiators to reach a deal that would link any big increase to the "modernisation" of working practices.
The local employers told union leaders they were prepared to offer more than a 4% rise rejected last summer but failed to table a new figure.
Progress was made, however, on the three other parts of the union's claim, with the employers offering to pay con trol staff the same rate as firefighters, increase the hourly rate for retained part-timers and introduce a new formula linking future awards to average earnings.
One option expected to be discussed by the union executive on Monday is to refuse to lift the threat of a strike from 9am on Wednesday, but to re-enter negotiations on Tuesday in an effort to extract an across-the-board offer.
A member of the executive insisted, however, if next week's strike was delayed it would be the last to be postponed without a settlement. "Pop into any fire station this weekend and you will find that people are losing patience that they haven't seen a big offer," he said.
Local employers have been legally notified by the FBU of three more eight-day strikes, each starting at 9am, before Christmas - on November 22, December 4 and December 16.
Mr Miller, who had two children, was the 28th firefighter to have died since 1990, including fatalities travelling to and from incidents.
TUC officials are anxious for the FBU to "give it one more go" amid fears that industrial action would lose the union public support and trigger a damaging confrontation with Tony Blair.
A total of 122 backbenchers have signed a Commons motion urging firefighters not to strike - and 46 are backing a pro-FBU statement calling on the government to intervene.
