Firefighters from Brentwood fire station will join the TUC Day of Action on Wednesday 30 November as part of their on-going campaign against the plan to cut an entire full time fire crew from the frontline in Brentwood.
The firefighters will be joining with other public service workers from across Essex demonstrating in Chelmsford against other frontline cuts in vital public services and fighting for fair pensions for all.
The FBU have withheld at this stage from balloting for national strike action over pensions but fire crews across Essex are continuing industrial action short of strike in what has been a bitter, 2-year-long dispute over on-going frontline cuts in Essex Fire and Rescue Service. The FBU is ready to coordinate national strike action with other unions should their talks with Ministers on pensions fail.
Nick Mayes, FBU rep serving at Brentwood said:
“The virus of cuts in frontline firefighters has now spread to Brentwood. The cut of full-time firefighters serving at Brentwood is a worrying example of the real-life, local consequences for the public of the cuts agenda being forced through under the cloak of the banking crisis. The people of Brentwood will lose one of their two current full-time fire crews who for decades have been there to respond immediately to 999 calls to save lives, property and deal with other emergencies. This will mean slower responses and less resilience to deal with emergencies. This will inevitably put the safety of the public and firefighters at increased risk.”
“Quite simply, having bailed out the banks, the people and firefighters of Brentwood are now being asked to pay again. The firefighters at Brentwood simply ask: What price a life?”
Brentwood fire station covers a population of 71000, three major roads, including a section of the busiest ring road in the world – the M25, a major railway line as well as many industrial and rural risks.
The economic downturn means fire chiefs are already experiencing problems in recruiting and retaining part time firefighters and this is proving no different in Brentwood. This means the new plans for maintaining a part-time fire crew for Brentwood’s second fire engine will be unreliable and risks only one fire engine being ready to deal with all 999 calls received.
Fire crews have also been cut from Canvey Island, Colchester, Chelmsford, Basildon, Grays, Southend and Harlow in an earlier cuts round and the retained fire station at Rayleigh was closed. Plans for even further frontline cuts are being considered by the fire authority.
