The 2002–2003 UK firefighter dispute was a period of nationwide

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

which began when the

Fire Brigades Union The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime firefighters (including officers up to chief fire officer / firemaster), retained firefighters and emergency control room staff. History The first recorded inst ...

(FBU) voted to strike in an attempt to secure better salaries. The FBU demanded a 39 percent increase in pay, which would have brought the average firefighter's wage to around £30,000. It balloted its members for a strike in late 2002 and the industrial action began in November. It was the first nationwide firefighters' strike in the UK since 1977. The strike was led by FBU General Secretary

Andy Gilchrist Andrew Charles Gilchrist (born 5 December 1960) is a British trade unionist and former firefighter who served as the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union from 2000 to 2005. Early life Gilchrist was born the son of Edward and Shirley Gi ...

Background

Local authorities recommended a pay increase of 4%, whilst an independent review advised 11%. The FBU rejected both of these requesting 40%. The government argued that this could result in substantially higher wages across the public sector and tax increases. The Independent Review of the Fire Service (known as the "Bain Review") proposed increasing salaries, on condition that the fire service was reformed and modernised. Recommendations included improving fire service leadership, encouraging closer relations with the central and local governments, and giving firefighters paramedic training. The last nationwide firefighters' strike occurred between 1977 and early 1978, months prior to the

Winter of Discontent The Winter of Discontent was the period between November 1978 and February 1979 in the United Kingdom characterised by widespread strikes by private, and later public, sector trade unions demanding pay rises greater than the limits Prime Minis ...

. This was also a dispute about firefighters' pay, with the FBU demanding a 30% pay increase over a recommended 10% increase, and resulted in the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

being deployed to cover the striking firefighters. The strike ended after two months when FBU eventually accepted the 10% pay increase, having lost the backing of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

and the support of the public.

Strike action

The first few weeks of the planned action were postponed while negotiation took place. The first period, a two-day strike, began at 18:00 hrs GMT, on Wednesday 13 November and ended at 18:00 on Friday 15 November. In the event that reconciliation could not be brokered, further industrial action was planned. The

provided emergency cover during the strike by activating Operation Fresco, using

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

RLHZ '

Green Goddess The Green Goddess is the colloquial name for the RLHZ Self Propelled Pump manufactured by Bedford Vehicles, a fire engine used originally by the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS), and latterly held in reserve by the Home Office until 2004, and a ...

' fire engines, originally produced for the

Auxiliary Fire Service The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of the Civil Defence Service. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. The Auxiliary Fire Service and the local brigades were superseded i ...

for use following a

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...

on the United Kingdom, as well as a handful of modern appliances held in reserve. The armed forces also fielded small breathing apparatus rescue teams (BART) and rescue equipment support teams (REST) headed by professional firefighters of the RAF and staffed by specially trained members of all three services. Police officers escorted responding armed forces personnel to emergency callouts;

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

was criticised for hypocrisy by members of the FBU for offering increased overtime payments to police officers and armed forces personnel undertaking these duties. Each side placed the responsibility entirely with the other; the FBU said that their employers' failure to meet their demands was the cause of the strike.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

criticised the strike as "wrong and dangerous" and warned the FBU that lives could be lost the lack of a prompt response by emergency services. 19,000 armed forces personnel were deployed to cover for striking firefighters, with fears being raised that the deployment would impact British forces' intervention in the upcoming

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

. There were numerous examples of striking firefighters responding to emergency calls from the

picket line A picket line is a horizontal rope along which horses are tied at intervals. The rope can be on the ground, at chest height (above the knees, below the neck) or overhead. The overhead form is usually called a high line. A variant of a high li ...

and several rescues were made in this way.

Negotiations

The first few weeks of the planned action were postponed while negotiation took place. The FBU rejected an offer that would amount to 11 percent over two years from a review body headed by Sir George Bain, and were unwilling to accept reforms to their working conditions. The FBU was widely criticised for its initial demand for a 40 percent pay-rise for both firefighters and support workers; indeed, it refused to abandon this demand despite mounting public disquiet concerning the FBU's stance. On 19 March 2003, leaders of the FBU and negotiators for the local authority employers reached a provisional agreement based on a three-year pay settlement and an understanding that modernisation measures would be subject to some measure of local negotiation. However this was voted down by local area FBU representatives the following day. On 20 March 2003, Paul Woolstenholmes, an FBU official in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

set up a political party,

Firefighters Against Cuts Firefighters Against Cuts ( cy, Diffoddwyr Tàn yn Erbyn Toriadau) was a political party formed in 2003 which fought a small number of seats in the 2003 United Kingdom local elections. It was registered on 20 March 2003. Paul Woolstenholmes was t ...

. However this did not develop, with only a handful of candidates contesting seats in

Suffolk Coastal Suffolk Coastal was a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Melton, having moved from neighbouring Woodbridge in 2017. Other towns include Felixstowe, Framlingham, Leiston, Aldeburgh, and Saxmundham. The ...

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of ...

and

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

. On 12 June 2003 at an FBU conference in Glasgow, the dispute ended with the firefighters accepting a pay deal worth 16% over three years linked to changes to working conditions. The deal was branded a disappointment by delegates, with some voting for the pay deal to avoid one being imposed on them by the government.

Legacy

Tensions were raised again in 2004, when the FBU and local authority employers clashed over whether the deal brokered in 2003 was being honoured. Unofficial strikes took place in some fire brigades and army personnel were again readied to cover striking firefighters, however this round of negotiations was settled without recourse to industrial action in August of that year. Disaffection with the FBU leadership after these disputes led to Andy Gilchrist being voted out of office by union members in 2005, being replaced by

Matt Wrack Matthew D. Wrack (born 23 May 1962) is a British trade unionist and former firefighter. He was elected General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in May 2005. Politics Wrack joined the Labour Party Young Socialists in Salford in 1978 an ...

. Further strike action and

work stoppage Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

s on a smaller scale would be carried out by regional members of the FBU in individual fire brigades. 5,500 firefighters from the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...

walked out on strike over two nights in 2010 in a dispute over new contracts. A third 47-hour walkout on

Bonfire Night Bonfire Night is a name given to various annual celebrations characterised by bonfires and fireworks. The event celebrates different traditions on different dates, depending on the country. Some of the most popular instances include Guy Fawkes ...

was later called off by the FBU, while private contractors operating the 27 fire engines made available during the strike complained of intimidation by picketing firefighters. Two striking firefighters were injured in separate hit-and-run incidents outside of their fire stations, with one firefighter hit by a fire engine, resulting in two arrests. The antiquated Bedford RLHZ '

' fire engines employed by the armed forces were criticised for their lack of speed, water capacity and modern equipment throughout the strike. Subsequent legislation introduced after the strike would demand striking fire brigades make their fire engines available to the armed forces, rendering the 'Green Goddess' appliances redundant; the fleet of over 1,000 appliances began to be sold off in 2005, with many 'Green Goddess' appliances being sold to developing countries.

References

External links