Fire control staff in Merseyside are to take eight consecutive days of strike action from 27 December in a dispute centred on an imposed reduction in night-time staffing numbers from the agreed level of six to five, and the introduction of a duty shift system that was never subject to negotiation with the FBU.
Following the ballot result, negotiations between the union and Merseyside fire employers were continuing at the National Joint Council (NJC). But the employers failed to address some of the issues relating to the proposed duty shift system, and refused to even discuss the imposed reduction in night-time staffing numbers.
Firefighters and control staff do not take industrial action lightly, but we have been left with no other choice
Control staff delivered an overwhelming mandate for strike action in August, with 100% voting Yes on a turnout of 92%. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said that “the intransigence of employers gives us no choice but to use that mandate. Imposing contracts on firefighters and downgrading working conditions is a threat to public safety.”
Ian Hibbert, Fire Brigades Union brigade secretary for Merseyside, said: “Firefighters and control staff do not take industrial action lightly, but we have been left with no other choice. The time has come for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to listen to members in fire control.”
