Firefighters 100: A century of the Fire Brigades Union
Fire Brigades Union turns 100
This year will mark 100 years since the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the first and only UK trade union to champion the specific needs of all firefighters, was founded in 1918. Some 85% of all firefighters are members. To mark this historic milestone the FBU is planning a year of events to celebrate...
Limited edition 2018 FBU centenary calendar now on sale
In 2018, the Fire Brigades Union will celebrate 100 years since its founding. To mark this historic milestone the union has commissioned a special, limited edition centenary themed calendar. The calendar, featuring 12 iconic images from the union’s history, is available to order on the FBU shop...
Help us to celebrate your union's 100th birthday
Many of you will by now know that next year, 2018, is your union’s 100th birthday. We are going to celebrate our centenary throughout the year, culminating in a special memorial event at Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 13 October, close to the formal date the union established itself on 1 October...
Challenge and opportunity
Francis Beckett explains how the War and the vision of its general secretary transformed the FBU. The Second World War presented Britain’s fire service with its biggest ever challenge – to ensure the country survived a mass bombing campaign over its cities. The solution was to give the FBU its...
Nine weeks of struggle
The first national FBU strike in 1977 established a pay system that was to last decades. Helen Hague explains how and why. Forty years ago, firefighters across the UK began their first national strike as anger over low pay bubbled up from the grassroots. The Labour government never really believed...
Burning skies
Helen Hague recalls ‘heroes with grimy faces’ who were also artists St Paul’s Cathedral stands proud and defiant against a red glowing sky as huge fires rage all around. A wall from a bombed-out building is collapsing as two firefighters stand in its shadow. A uniformed firefighter, eyes half shut...
FTU ballot in favour of a union political levy
This marked the start of the union’s membership paying a part of their earnings, known as subscriptions, into a political fund. As with other unions, a political fund enabled the FTU to take part in political activities such as lobbying politicians at every level, or launching campaigns on a wide...
FTU submission to the Middlebrook committee on pay, pensions and hours
Given that it was partly the police strike that inspired firefighters to set up their own union, it is not surprising that one of the first acts of the new Firemen’s Trade Union was to seek pay, pensions and working hours parity with police. The government established a committee, headed by Liberal...
Austerity: 1920s style
Attacks on workers’ pay after the First World War saw the Firemen’s Trade Union (FTU) going to court to stop a 20% cut, says Helen Hague In the aftermath of the First World War trade unions were deeply woven into national life. Wartime strikes had won pay rises and the government had even forced...
