FBU general secretary Matt Wrack sets out what is at stake on 4 July
Fourteen years of Conservative rule have brought the UK to its knees.
Our public services have been left in crisis by over a decade of austerity. The fire service is in a state of emergency, cut to the bone. Your pay, pensions, and right to fight back have been attacked year on year.
Acting in the interest of an out-of-control billionaire class, the Conservatives have protected profits at all costs – with the price paid by working people. All the while, more and more families struggle to put food on the table.
This general election is our opportunity to kick them from power and fight for an alternative.
IMPORTANT COMMITMENTS
The Labour Party was founded by the trade union movement as the political voice of workers.
As an affiliate in England and Wales, the FBU fights within the party’s structures for policies that represent your interests. We work with other trade unions to hold Labour’s feet to the fire.
The FBU is not affiliated to the Scottish Labour Party in Scotland, nor to a political party in Northern Ireland.
Through Labour’s democratic channels, the FBU has played a key role in advocating for the New Deal for Working People. This plan commits a new Labour government to strengthening workers’ rights, making work more secure.
The Conservative’s Minimum Service Levels Act is the latest attempt to prevent public sector workers from standing up for their pay and conditions. In the fire and rescue service, these draconian regulations amount to an attempt to effectively ban strikes. We must do everything in our power to defend this fundamental democratic right.
Labour has committed to reverse this law, along with restrictions placed on trade union organising in 2016. Under a new Labour government, it will be our role to ensure this happens within the first 100 days.
Firefighters know from bitter experience that no political party can be relied upon to deliver for us or for working people in general. But that does not mean that all politicians are the same – they aren’t.
In the coming years, we must be willing to fight for progress, but with the Tories out of power we will have a much better chance of winning on pay, conditions and funding. Every member of the FBU has a role to play in that struggle.
THE FIRE SERVICE
This must be the turning point for our fire and rescue service.
Since 2010, one in five firefighter jobs has been axed. 30% of central government funding has been cut. Fewer firefighters with fewer resources means rising response times. Firefighter and public safety are being put on the line. Meanwhile, living standards have fallen after years of attacks on pay.
And, for too long, governments and employers have failed to act on health and safety.
The UK is now dangerously behind other countries when it comes to protecting firefighters from exposure to toxic contaminants in fires. We need preventative measures to reduce exposure; health monitoring to catch cancer and other diseases early; and compensation for those affected.
Those in charge have not just been asleep at the wheel. These crises have been created by political decisions, with the National Fire Chiefs Council telling ministers what they want to hear.
Firefighters know a disastrous policy when they see one, but we’re currently locked out of the room.
We will fight for a Labour government to set up a statutory advisory body which gives the FBU a voice at every level. This would open the door, giving firefighters a fair say in decisions that impact our work, our safety, and our service.
STRUGGLE AHEAD
The fire and rescue service is governed by politicians, and our working lives are shaped by politics.
Keir Starmer is likely to win the election, and a new Labour government will present opportunities as well as challenges. The New Deal for Working People has the potential to improve the lives of millions. It is the role of trade unions to ensure these commitments are delivered.
But we will be prepared to fight for our demands. The Fire Brigades Union has been standing up and holding governments of all stripes to account over the last century, including the Labour Party.
To win a future for our fire and rescue service, we must first kick the Tories out.
Make sure to bring your ID to your local polling station and cast your vote on 4 July.
