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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Matthew Tempest, political correspondent

Fire union demands strike law change

The Fire Brigades Union today demanded the repeal of laws which it claims allows the government to impose pay deals on firefighters, ahead of tomorrow's meeting between the two sides in the bitter dispute.

The demand comes in the agenda for next month's TUC conference, published today, which sees the union table an amendment calling on Tony Blair to scrap parts of the Fire Services Act and Fire and Rescue Services Act.

The news comes after reports that John Prescott's office has discussed plans to pay private firms to cover for the fire service in the event of another strike.

Talks are expected tomorrow lunchtime on the ongoing pay dispute, with the FBU and the Local Government Association declaring a "cautious optimism" that an agreement can be reached.

Sir Jeremy Beecham, the deputy chairman of the Local Government Association, refused to be drawn on the details of a compromise wording believed to have been brokered by the TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, during informal discussions conducted since pay talks collapsed earlier this month.

But Sir Jeremy nevertheless endorsed FBU claims that the resolution was on the cards at tomorrow's joint meeting. "I am cautiously optimistic about tomorrow's talks," he said.

Today's publication of the TUC conference agenda came before the revelation of possible private sector involvement, but shows the level of antagonism between the government and the FBU following last year's strike and the recent collapse of talks.

After the TUC as a whole had called for the repeal of what it calls Tory anti-union laws, the FBU tabled its own amendment demanding the "repealing of the sections of the Fire Services Act 2003 and those in the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 which give the government powers to undermine collective bargaining by imposing pay and conditions in the fire and rescue service in contravention of ILO conventions and the European Social Charter".

The motion already calls on the prime minister to provide trade union recognition to all workplaces, regardless of size, and for employment rights to be enforceable from day one.

The TUC also calls on the government to enact its long-postponed promise to bring in a "corporate killing bill" to make company directors liable for avoidable deaths in the workplace.

Among other resolutions in the 56-page agenda is a call for new laws to allow unions to expel members of any "racist or fascist organisation" - a reference to the recent legal challenges brought by the BNP against unions such as the NUT and Aslef who attempted to kick its members out.

Today the Guardian revealed that private contractors could be used to requisition and operate modern red fire engines if crews strike next month.

Officials in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - responsible for the fire service, although negotiations with the FBU are carried out by Local Government Association - have discussed paying commercial firms to support the military for the first time in the two-year pay dispute should firefighters unleash a fresh wave of walkouts.

Mr Prescott is said to be preparing to use new legal powers to order fire authorities to make available red appliances for the stand-in firefighting force to replace antiquated Green Goddess machines deployed during strikes in late 2002 and early 2003.

Confidential talks are understood to have taken place with senior figures in Group 4 Securicor over what is officially known as "capacity" ahead of next week's fresh FBU strike ballot.

Mr Prescott's office said yesterday it had no plans to use private contractors during a strike.

Although next month's TUC conference - which kicks off the season of party political conferences - is likely to be the final one before a 2005 general election, relations have thawed slightly between union bosses and the government, aside from the fractious FBU dispute.

At the Labour party policy forum in Warwick over the summer, a loose agreement was made to guarantee that private firms taking over PFI contracts from the public sector could not offer worse pay and conditions - ending the threat of the "two-tier workforce" the unions had complained about.

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