Public urged to delay bonfires and firework displays as firefighters set to strike

Fire chiefs have urged the public to postpone any plans for domestic firework displays or bonfires as firefighters prepare to walk out this evening in a strike over pension and retirement ages.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) are staging a four and a half hour strike on Friday 1 November between the hours of 6.30 and 11pm, and further two hour action on Monday (4 November) between 6am and 8am.

The FBU mounted a four hour strike last month, but postponed a planned second in what it described as an “act of good faith”, after progress towards an agreement in talks between the union and government.

The Fire Service has encouraged people to attend public displays while local services put contingency plans into place. Every Fire and Rescue Service has a legal duty to maintain a level of service to local communities.

Fire Minister Brandon Lewis criticised the FBU's industrial action for what the Government has described as completely unnecessary and damaging:

"We offered firefighters similar fitness principles to those the FBU accepted in Scotland," he said.

"The FBU should reconsider their decision to strike, announced just four days into discussions, and work for a resolution to this dispute.

"The public will be baffled by the FBU's course of action when they hear that the deal being offered to firefighters gives them one of the most generous pension schemes in all the public sector."

Fire Brigades Union General Secretary, Matt Wrack, said: “It is ludicrous that, after two years of negotiations, the government has still not sorted out this mess.

“Firefighters are keen for these issues to be resolved through discussion, but the government won’t even listen to its own evidence, which highlights that the schemes are unworkable and unaffordable.

“Firefighters want a pension scheme that takes account of the hazardous nature of the job as well as being affordable and workable for them and for the taxpayer.

“We hope these brief strikes will mean the government returns to negotiations so we can agree a sensible way forward.”

The FBU says it has timed the strikes so that celebrations on Bonfire Night and the Saturdays before and after 5 November, which are the most popular times for firework displays, can take place.

The union wants assurances about employment terms over plans to raise the retirement age for firefighters from 55 to 60. Fire Brigades Union argue they were led to believe that the government was willing to offer a guarantee that firefighters whose fitness levels declined with age would not face being sacked.

However, the union says fire service employers confirmed last week that this risk does exist for firefighters under the new arrangements.

The weekend is likely to be one of the busiest for the Fire Service ahead of Diwali on Sunday and Bonfire Night on Tuesday.