Submitted by SWFBU on
CIRCULAR: 2010HOC0629MW 5th October 2010
TO: ALL MEMBERS
Dear Brother/Sister,
PAY – NATIONAL JOINT COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 2010
The National Joint Council met last week (30.09.10) and the Union again placed on the agenda the issue of pay. This was the first opportunity to discuss pay since the Employers wrote to the Union stating that they would not be making an offer on pay for 2010. The Employers’ stance at the NJC remained unchanged.
This stance was challenged by the FBU and the Employers were reminded of the following:
• Pay in the Fire Service is not directly determined by government policy, but is determined by voluntary collective bargaining between the FBU and the Fire Service Employers.
• In other words, government pay restraint has no binding impact on the Fire and Rescue Service.
• In any case, the Employers have chosen to attack pay in advance of the demands from the government for a pay freeze.
• Most Fire and Rescue Authorities have budgeted for a pay rise. We estimate that the average budgeted figure for 2010 was 1.7%.
• The Employers have specifically rejected any idea of assisting the lower paid within the Service.
• Despite the Employers’ calls for pay restraint on the majority, they continue at local level to grant very significant pay rises to Chief Fire Officers and other principal managers.
We reminded the Employers that firefighters have been through a significant period of change over the past seven years. All the targets met by the Service are achieved by firefighters i.e. by those who deliver our service on the front line. The Employers’ stance towards pay demonstrates very clearly that their claims to value the workforce and to want good industrial relations are completely hollow. The FBU rejects entirely the idea that pay restraint will, in some way, assist the economy recover. If anything, such policies are likely to exacerbate the difficulties in the economy rather than resolve them.
The stance on pay appears to reflect a hardening attitude towards industrial relations matters within our Service and obviously this is, in turn, influenced by the wider picture in Public Services. This confrontational approach is likely to produce industrial flashpoints in the coming months.
All Branches are asked to discuss this attack on our pay alongside the other attacks we are likely to face. The timing and scale of our response will be determined through the democratic structures of our Union, and it is essential the views of all Branches are reported to Brigade Committees.
Yours fraternally,
MATT WRACK
General Secretary
