“We feel we are being attacked – we are another one of the public services that is being destroyed just so that the government can have its austerity measures,” says Eric Stewart (far right), a firefighter on strike outside Kentish Town station in north London.
Morale is at its lowest point since he joined the service 11 years ago; the dispute over firefighters’ pensions has dragged on for so long that Stewart says he has forgotten how many days of pay he has lost due to strike action. “We have been striking for 15 months and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of progress,” he says.
“We feel like we have been mis-sold a pension. We are not asking for a pay rise: we have had a pay freeze since the Tories came in. We just want what we have been paying in for.”
Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members are taking strike action today (9 December) over government proposals they say will force firefighters to work until they are 60 instead of 55, pay more into their pensions and get less in retirement.
“They just seem very out of touch with the needs of working people,” says Stewart, 39, whose first child is due to be born next week. He says a lot of firefighters are worried about their futures: “It’s not just the here and now; it’s the rest of your life that’s being affected.”
Last year London mayor Boris Johnson forced through plans to close 10 fire stations across the capital, despite strong opposition from the public.
Firefighters outside Royston fire station, one of 29 fire stations in Hertfordshire, are firm in their support for the strike. They say the government’s actions on firefighters’ pensions amount to straightforward pension theft.
One of the Royston firefighters, Steve (above, right), says: “I’m on strike to protect my pension. This is something I have been paying into. I’m paying for my pension but the government is penalising us for its own mistakes.”
Firefighters are also furious about having to work on the frontline until they are 60, rather than 55. “Having to work longer is completely unsafe and unfair,” says Steve.
This is the 48th period of industrial action since the pensions row began well over a year ago. The last strike lasted four days, the longest period of industrial action firefighters have taken in at least 10 years. Writing ahead of the four-day strike that started at the end of October, Essex firefighter Andrew Knowles said the proposals were not only unfair for firefighters but a danger to the public.
“Put simply these proposals will lower standards, meaning that not only will the public get a poorer service which could result in needless injuries and deaths, but that my colleagues and I are at greater risk of heart attacks and sudden death when attending these emergencies,” he wrote.
The FBU branch secretary for West Sussex, Francis Bishop (above, second from the left), is on strike in Crawley and says: “I am not on strike for myself; I stand in defence of our young people, many of whom have not yet even joined the fire service.”
She says the changes to pension plans will leave firefighters who are forced to retire early – because they fail to meet the required level of fitness – without a pension until they reach the national retirement age. Many firefighters could struggle to maintain the strict fitness level later in life.
Thousands of firefighters are expected to join a demonstration in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to protest over the sacking of FBU executive member Ricky Matthews. He was dismissed after failing to come to work on the day of a previous planned strike, which Bucks Fire and Rescue say had been called off.
Ross Smallconbe (pictured above), a firefighter who has travelled to Buckinghamshire from the Isle of White, says: “Our colleague Ricky Matthews was sacked for taking lawful industrial action during the last set of strikes. This is a threat to every firefighter and their right to organise in the workplace. I came to Aylesbury to support Ricky and pressure the fire authority to give him his job back.”
There is no industrial action in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, where decisions over pensions have been devolved, but union members say Westminster refuses to bargain. Fire minister Penny Mordaunt has labelled the strike action “completely unnecessary”.
But Danni Armstrong (pictured above) of the Surrey fire and rescue service, says too little progress has been made. “Over the past three years firefighters have been so patient with the government,” she says.
“Earlier this year we stopped calling strike action as the then new fire minister Penny Mordaunt said she would fight for the best possible deal for firefighters. Then she just offers the same deal again. We feel betrayed. I don’t want the best possible deal: I want the pension that I signed up for and paid into.”
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