20 August 2004
Talks next week on the firefighters' pay dispute hold out little hope for a settlement to avoid another damaging national strike.
The National Joint Council – the body co-ordinating discussions between the Employers' Organisation and the Fire Brigades Union – reconvenes on August 26, but neither side expects the other to budge on sticking points preventing an agreement. The Employers' Organisation was pessimistic. 'We'll be taking nothing new to the table, other than renewed hope that we can find some common ground… on matters that we have been close to settling,' a spokesman said But the FBU warned that its own position 'has not changed'. Failure to reach an agreement will leave little time for further discussion prior to the FBU announcing the result of its national ballot for strike action around August 31. That ballot is likely to back a strike as early as September. The dispute centres on EO attempts to modernise the fire service around a three-year, 16% pay deal. Two stages of the pay deal have been delayed following union opposition. The FBU's refusal to engage in non-emergency tasks over bank holidays has delayed the 3.5% pay deal for stage two. Fire authorities have offered double time, plus a day off in lieu, in exchange for firefighters' acceptance that they should undertake tasks other than emergency call-outs. That has delayed the EO from releasing the stage three pay increase of 4.2% which should have been introduced in July. Meanwhile, the Local Government Association has appointed a successor to Christina Jebb as chair of the NJC. Jebb was dismissed when she appeared close to an agreement backing the FBU's bank holiday proposals. She has been replaced by Liz Barron of Hampshire County Council. Commenting on Barron's role at future meetings, Chris Clarke, the LGA Liberal Democrat group leader, said: 'Firefighters and fire authority representatives should recognise that the two sides are not far apart and an agreement could be negotiated quickly.' But trade union leaders believe the stalemate could sour broader government-union relations. Leaders of Unison, Amicus, the Public and Commercial Services union, T&G and the GMB wrote to the government warning: 'Further embittering of industrial relations will do no service to the public, nor will it help the government's public services agenda.'
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