London
FBU
Suspension
of Strike Action
To NSSN and Associated Trade Unions,
5th November 2010
Dear Linda,
The Fire Brigades Union and its
member's in London are overwhelmed by the many letters of support and
solidarity received from trade unions affiliated to the NSSN and
SERTUC, especially PCS, RMT, NUT, CWU and SERTUC, whilst the strike
planned for the 5th and 6th November 2010 has been suspended, this in
no way infers that the dispute has concluded.
In view of the media attention
yesterday and the shambolic exploits of the chair of LFEPA Councillor
Brian Coleman, we feel that it is necessary to put the record straight
as the media is clearly not prepared to portray the truth, but instead
concentrate on the lies, spin and rhetoric that spill from the mouth
of the Tory bully (Coleman).
Contrary to the claims of Brian
Coleman, the decision by the FBU in London to suspend strikes was
based upon sound judgement and significant movement from management.
You will by now be aware that
contrary to the claims made by the Fire Minister, The Mayor of London,
The Chair of LFEPA and the Commissioner of the LFB that the Capitals
public would be safe on what is the busiest night of the year for the
London Fire Brigade. The FBU and our member's in London do not accept
such claims and we believe that the contingency plans and use of
inadequately trained AssetCo staff are neither sufficient nor adequate
to ensure the safety of the public at this time.
To support our claims that the LFB
were prepared to put the public at risk through this weekend, we have
evaluated how the AssetCo staff performed during the previous two
strike dates, whereby we witnessed AssetCo staff not capable of
correctly using equipment with no understanding of how they should
tackle a fire appropriately. Further concerns arose in the driving
abilities of those staff when three of our members including myself
were injured on picket lines.
Since the 31st Oct there have been
three days of negotiations which failed to deliver a way forward,
management maintained that their bottom line was 11/13 with strings
and that they wanted the FBU to enter into arbitration on the 5th Nov
with the threat of mass sackings still scheduled to take place on 26th
November 2010. However in light of the above the FBU proposed to
management they agree in writing:
-
That their bottom line is 11/13
with no strings.
-
That any decision on mass sackings
would not take place on the 18th November 2010.
-
That management agree to attend a
Resolution Advisory Panel on 16th November 2010.
I am pleased to report that
management gave a full written agreement to the above and therefore
the London Regional Committee felt that this was enough to suspend the
proposed strike action in order that the general public could enjoy
both Diwali and the Fireworks festivities, safe in the knowledge that
should that require attendance of the Fire Brigade then the public
would receive an attendance of professionally trained Firefighters as
opposed to a makeshift gaggle of un experienced and poorly trained
individuals.
Furthermore, we believe that we are
now better placed to enter into arbitration on our terms and not the
terms of the employer, we also believe that we will now not be
entering such arbitration with a loaded gun against our heads.
More importantly, management's
written agreement to the above, also secures that our members will be
able to be consulted fully on any recommendation that may be derived
from such arbitration, without the threat of mass sackings on the 18th
November 2010.
Had Management have agreed to this
position earlier then we would not have needed to take strike action,
but clearly it has been our unity and strike action that has forced
them to commit to such an agreement as outlined above.
Yours Fraternally
Ian Leahair
Executive Council Member for London
Fire Brigades Union |
