Firefighters urged to vote in favour of strike action over pay deal ‘insult’

Firefighters across Scotland are being urged to back the first strike over pay in two decades after a union blasted a below-inflation deal as “insulting”.

Ballots asking if the Fire Brigades Union should strike will begin dropping through its members’ doors and follows an indicative vote earlier this year which saw the majority of firefighters reject a 5% pay rise.

John Mckenzie, the union’s secretary in Scotland, urged his fellow members to back the proposed walkout, and said they have had £4,000 “in real terms eroded from their pay over the last decade”.

“Our members are not prepared to tolerate any further erosion of their living standards,” he warned.

“With inflation soaring to 11% and the price of food, energy and everyday items going through the roof, a 5% offer is an insult to firefighters.”

If the more than 33,000 members of the union across the UK walk out, it would be the first national strike since pension action between 2013 and 2015, and the first on pay since between 2002 and 2003.

“Our members risk their lives every day to protect communities and businesses,” Mr Mckenzie said.

“The

Scottish

Government and employers across the UK must come up with a fair offer that fully recognises the cost-of-living crisis if we are to avoid strike action.”

And Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said strike action was the “last resort” but they were “running out of options”.

“Many firefighters and control staff are desperate. Some are struggling to afford to live.

“It is a dreadful and very serious state of affairs,” he said.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Firefighter pay is negotiated through Ukwide collective bargaining arrangements, which includes SFRS as the employer. The Scottish Government is not part of these arrangements.

“We would encourage both sides to continue negotiating to reach a fair deal for firefighters.”

Our members risk their lives every day