08 November 2002
FBU leaders cancelled an eight-day strike due to start on November 6 to allow further pay talks throughout this week, but set the new date a week later for a 48-hour stoppage if agreement has still not been reached.
They warned that there would be no more suspensions of industrial action.
The union's executive council made the decision on November 4 following a four-hour meeting. Not all its members appear to have agreed with the decision: some, in London, took unofficial action on November 4.
Firefighters in several stations across the capital displayed their growing discontent by answering only 999 calls. A spokesman for the employers described the unofficial action as 'unfortunate'.
The FBU is demanding a 40% pay rise to bring average pay for a firefighter up to £30,000 a year from £21,531. The union has rejected an offer of a 4% increase.
Andy Gilchrist, the FBU general secretary, insisted the new strike date was an 'absolute line in the sand'. Gilchrist added that employers had accepted that there should be a new pay formula linking the fire service to professional rather than manual wages.
He also said that agreement had been reached over pay parity for retained firefighters and the employers had agreed to give more consideration to the union's demand for equal pay for emergency fire control staff.
Gilchrist added: 'The employers have agreed to give us a clear offer on the level of pay before November 13. If this level is not acceptable, the new 48-hour strike will go ahead, as will the other previously notified strikes.'
Employers are said to be coming under strong pressure from Downing Street to reach a settlement short of complete capitulation, with firefighters preparing for their first industrial action in 25 years.
Three more eight-day strikes have been called for, beginning on November 22, December 4 and December 16.
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