News

Environmental and tax justice groups have joined the Fire Brigades Union in calling for major investment in the fire and rescue service. In a letter to the Chancellor and Environment Secretary Ed Miliband, organisations including Greenpeace, Tax Justice UK, Friends of the Earth, Tipping Point UK and...

Over 146 people are known to have died in a huge fire across multiple apartment blocks in Hong Kong. The fire broke out at at Wang Fuk Court, a residential housing complex, on Wednesday 26 November. Flames were first spotted at 14:52 local time, and had spread to two more towers within ninety...

Storm Claudia resulted in severe flooding in parts of Wales and England on November 14, placing immense pressure on the fire and rescue service. Communities were evacuated, homes and businesses flooded, and transport networks disrupted after some areas saw up to a month’s rainfall over two days. A...

Oxfordshire firefighters held a rally outside a meeting of Oxfordshire county council on 9 December, protesting dangerous cuts to the service. This followed a mass meeting of over 150 members gathering to plan a campaign in opposition to the cuts. The county is facing proposals to close three fire...

The Budget, Labour’s second since it came to power last year, was presented by Rachel Reeves on 28 November. While noting some positives, the FBU reacted with disappointment overall. Some measures were welcomed by unions. These included the lifting of the two-child cap on benefits, which should lift...

Negotiations on pay reform are continuing at pace between the FBU and fire service employers. The National Joint Council met formally in early October. The discussions centre on the need for reform to the structure of fire service pay. At present, firefighters do not receive any structured pay...

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is facing the loss of eight fire engines and two fire stations under new proposals put forward by the local fire authority. The Liberal Democrat–run authority is considering two options, both of which would see fire engines in the county reduced from 30 to 22...

French unions, including public sector unions representing firefighters, have organised nationwide strikes against government austerity this autumn: demanding a tax on the super-rich to fund services. Up to one million demonstrators took part in a strike across France on 18 September. And protesters...

FBU members in Scotland are ramping up the fight against Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) proposals to cut the service across the country. A public consultation on the cuts has now closed, having received 3,500 responses in 12 weeks to the 23 options for cuts. The SFRS board is scheduled to...

Firefighters were mobilised in response to the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester, which took place on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur on 2 October. Crews from Manchester Central and Agecroft fire stations were en route to an automatic fire alarm when they came across what they believed...