21 March 2003
The Fire Brigades Union has two weeks to persuade members to accept a 16% pay deal after a special conference voted overwhelmingly against it in a bruising episode for its ruling executive council.
The FBU executive had voted 12 to six to accept an eleventh-hour deal from employers and had called off a strike planned for March 20.
But union activists were understood to be furious at the move. They mobilised the 250-strong special conference on March 19 to give general secretary Andy Gilchrist and his executive a bloody nose.
However, the deal may still be on the table, with the union now expected to ballot its 55,000 members. Another conference of brigade representatives is due in two weeks and this will have the final power to accept or reject the package.
The revised deal, which the FBU said had 'loosened the strings', makes it clear that fire service managers will have the power to tailor working practices to meet 'local requirements'.
The FBU had warned that this would lead to 'casualisation' of the service, but the promise of consultation has appeased the FBU executive, although activists are still rallying against it. The executive has also accepted that its 'Grey Book' on working arrangements, which it also fought hard to defend, will be reworked.
The impending war on Iraq is thought to have had a major impact on the ruling executive's decision. A strike while Britain was at war would have been a public relations disaster and the FBU will still stick to a no-strike rule while it consults members.
A spokesman for the employers said there was still a long way to go, even if the deal was finally accepted. He said local managers would try and reach consensus but the FBU would no longer have a veto on any reforms.
'People are going to be sensible and will want to take staff with them,' he said. 'The agreement will work on the basis of trying to seek consensus but at the end of the day it is the right of managers to implement local fire plans.'
In return for accepting the deal, firefighters will receive a pay deal of 16% over three years. A 4% pay increase will be backdated from November 2002, with an average of 7% from November this year. In July 2004 , average pay increases will be 4.2%, taking the pay of an average firefighter to £25,000, or £29,000 in London.
The FBU had been demanding a 40% pay increase, taking the average salary up to £30,000.
PFmar2003
