23 May 2003
It has had more false starts than the 1993 Grand National, but the end now finally looks in sight for the year-long firefighters' dispute.
In what has turned into a bitter test of union, central and local government relations, firefighters now look likely to settle for a three-year, 16% pay increase while employers will have gained 'local control' from union clutches.
Sources close to both sides are cautiously optimistic that the deal will be accepted and the Fire Brigades Union has privately accepted that this is as good as they are going to get.
'The proposed agreement differs significantly from previous offers,' a war-weary Andy Gilchrist, FBU general secretary, said this week.
The main change is the offer of an independent panel to broker any local disagreements over changes to working patterns. Firefighters had thrown out the last deal in March, giving their executive a bloody nose, largely on the grounds that it allowed employers to railroad any changes through without adequate consultation. This appears to give them an appeal mechanism.
If a resolution isn't forthcoming, the panel can make recommendations, although these will not be binding. There is also a time limit on complaints to ensure disputes can't drag on. 'This does provide external recourse where there is seen to be difficulties. It is something that both sides can be comfortable with,' Sir Jeremy Beecham, chair of the Local Government Association, told Public Finance.
For the firefighters, there is a three-stage pay increase, taking average earnings to £25,000 by 2004 – although this falls significantly short of the 40% they were demanding.
They will receive a 4% rise, backdated from November 2002, and an average 7% from November this year – although this will be dependent on the completion of a new pay structure by October.
A further 4.2% should become available by July 2004, but again this is dependent on several things. First, negotiations will have to be completed; second, and perhaps more crucially, the Audit Commission, in an interesting expansion in its role, has to verify that enough savings have been made locally. These savings will be made through changes to work practices, so if the union does not accept local reforms, its firefighters will not 'earn' their pay increases.
In effect, the employers have gained significant ground from their situation a year ago. Under the agreement they can now stipulate the level of fire cover needed – a sticking point as they claimed that stations were overstaffed during night shifts and in certain regions.
Crucially, any changes to working times will not need collective agreement and will not be subject to the advisory panel. This gives employers powers to stipulate crewing levels and flexible working between stations and is likely to be where savings are made. These reforms will be contained in employers' integrated risk management and time arrangement plans.
So, after a year-long dispute, has it all been worth it? The firefighters, if they accept the deal at a special conference on June 9, will have won a significant pay increase that dwarfs that of most other public sector workers. Their pay formula in future will be tied to professional rather than manual rates of pay. But for this they will have given up some of their more entrenched and long-protected working practices.
For the FBU's leadership, it may not be such a victory. More moderate union colleagues have been disgruntled by the FBU's handling of the dispute, which gave rise to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott taking the unprecedented step of issuing a Bill giving him the powers to impose a settlement. 'It's hardly helped Labour and union relations,' says one union source.
Prescott's Bill is still winding its way through Parliament, although it apparently contains a sunset clause that allows it to lapse should a deal be agreed. Nevertheless, it shows the government's determination to quash such dissent – a precedent that is now set as a warning to other unions.
For the employers, it has been a long, hard road and may have simply reinforced the government's mistrust of local government's capability to pursue public service reform.
'It's been a hell of a long drawn out dispute. Relationships have been bruised and we have to rebuild them. That will take time and effort from both sides,' said Beecham.
PFmay2003
