Firefighters' strike called off

On 2 December 2002, the UK's Fire Brigades Union called off an eight-day strike due to begin on 5 December and agreed to exploratory talks on settling the current pay dispute to be convened by the conciliation service Acas. We outline recent developments in the dispute.

During the week between the end of the first 48-hour strike held in its current pay dispute by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) on 13-15 November (UK0210104F and UK0211107F) and the eight-day stoppage due to begin on 22 November, intensive negotiations took place between the FBU and the local authority fire service employers. Talks continued into the early hours of 22 November and culminated in a draft agreement. This linked pay increases equating to 16% on the total paybill by November 2003 to the completion of negotiations over the modernisation of the fire service. The FBU indicated that it was prepared to call off the eight-day stoppage on the basis of the proposed deal. However, the government was not prepared to endorse the terms of the draft agreement and the strike duly began at 09.00 as planned. FBU general secretary Andy Gilchrist said that government intervention had 'wrecked' the chance of avoiding the strike. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said that it would have been irresponsible to sanction a deal that the government had not had the opportunity to evaluate properly.

Later that day the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson told the press that the government was not prepared to be 'bounced' by 'uncosted, half-baked proposals in the middle of the night [which made] little or no mention of modernisation worth talking about - proposals which, by a cursory Treasury estimate this morning, would cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds'. He was strongly critical of both union and employers and indicated that the government would not accede to pay increases above 4% that were not 'self-financing'. The government subsequently suggested that lower levels of employment within the fire service were likely to form part of any deal to solve the dispute.

On 29 November, discussions between the union and the employers resumed but ended without a breakthrough. The employers said that they had no proposals to put to the FBU, but were working with the government on the formulation of a new proposal. Before the meeting, the government published a letter to the employers’ side reiterating the government’s approach to fire service pay. This stressed the 'serious implications' of the negotiations for 'public sector pay policy as a whole, and the broader public interest', and stated that:

• the employers could not commit the government to any agreement that requires additional government funding; and

• any pay award not affordable within existing public expenditure provision must be paid for by modernisation.

On 30 November, Mr Gilchrist told a meeting of left-wing Labour Party activists that he was 'quite prepared to work to replace new Labour with ... real Labour', prompting accusations from ministers that he was 'politicising' the fire service dispute.

On 2 December ,the government published a report intended to show that military fire cover had worked well during the first eight-day strike, leading to 'little disruption' to UK life and no more fire fatalities than normal. Fire services minister Nick Raynsford said the results suggested new working practices could be safely adopted by the fire service.

Later the same day, the FBU executive committee decided to call off the eight-day stoppage due to begin on 5 December and agreed to exploratory talks to be convened by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). The move was widely seen by press commentators as a response to growing disenchantment among FBU members with the union’s strategy of eight-day strikes, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, and to falling public support for the firefighters’ cause. However, the FBU says that a further eight-day stoppage, due to start on 16 December, remains 'live'.

The chair of Acas, Rita Donaghy, confirmed that she had invited the parties involved in the dispute to exploratory talks at its London head office. Acas says it is 'seeking to assess the current positions of the parties and to explore the means and mechanisms for a possible way forward'. The fire service employers welcomed Acas’s involvement.

For the government, Mr Raynsford welcomed the FBU’s decision and any moves to resolve the dispute - provided they were within the parameters already set out by the government. He said that the independent review of the fire service, chaired by Professor Sir George Bain, 'remains key to resolving the dispute and will provide the basis for a future fire service'. The full report of the Bain review is due to be published by the middle of December.