No 10 may seek to ban fire strikes during Iraq war

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday March 12, 2003 23:12 by Liverpool Irish Fireman - Mersyside Fire Brigade

No 10 may seek to ban fire strikes during Iraq war

Be warned folks! Your shower of corrupt politicians are going to try and bring in the same anti labour laws in Ireland as we've had over here since Thatcher first came to power. Now is the time to organise and fight against these draconian anti worker laws before the bastards have a chance to put them into effect.

No 10 may seek to ban fire strikes during Iraq war

Downing Street is to consider seeking a court order banning further national fire strikes during any military attack on Iraq, after senior union officials yesterday called for walkouts over strings tied to a new pay offer.

A small group of ministers and government advisers involved in the bitter dispute are expected to decide shortly whether to try to use a 1992 Tory employment act to outlaw industrial action on public safety grounds.

Leaders of the Fire Brigades Union will discuss their tactics on Tuesday ahead of a conference in Brighton a week next Wednesday of 500 firefighters from all 58 UK brigades.

John Prescott yesterday said the rejected 16% three-year pay offer would not be improved as the uncompromising stand-off by both sides in the six-month dispute put the deputy prime minister and the FBU back on collision course.

The 19,000 troops who answered emergency calls during four strikes have been stood down and with some now in the Gulf, army commanders have warned they would struggle to muster sufficient service personnel.

A Downing Street source described the FBU's response as "unbelievable" and predicted that the public and other unions would "turn against" the firefighters.

The angry mood of yesterday's gathering in central London of fire brigade secretaries suggested the FBU conference on March 19 will endorse rejection and back more stoppages.

Geoff Ellis, a national officer, said the issue was not the proposed pay rise but the "drastic" changes in working conditions attached to it.

The union particularly opposes plans that would require staff to agree to be "deployed anywhere and on any duties" at 14 days notice, and work up to 24 hours overtime a month.

"The pay offer will not be acceptable if it is linked to the decimation of the fire service," said Mr Ellis.

Some at yesterday's meeting said the conference should be cancelled because conditions imposed in the offer, allowing fire chiefs to set crewing levels and impose changes, were so unacceptable.

The union has sent copies of the five-page draft agreement to all 55,000 members and one prominent figure said the Brighton session was likely to be opened to the media.

"I for one will be arguing that we should let the employers see it on TV and read it in the newspapers," Mr Ellis added.