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The Firefighters' Dispute: Fanning the Flames?

Are the FBU Firefighters Right to be Alarmed?

The last agreement on pay and conditions dates back to 1977. The FBU has argued that a 40% wage increase is needed in order to catch up on pay levels. They may have reckoned that they were unlikely to get 40%, but would take a substantial increase in pay.

Their employers say that there are approximately 25 applications for every firefighter vacancy. In economic terms, the supply of labour exceeds the demand for that labour. In this case, the wage rate should fall, as in the following diagram:

[Explanation of diagram]

In their view, if only the firefighters would modernise and agree new flexible working arrangements, then at least part of any RPI-plus pay rise could be paid from productivity savings.

The Government set up a review, headed by Professor Sir George Bain, in September 2002 to consider the issues facing the Fire Service. The Bain Report, published in December 2002, identifies changes that need to happen throughout the service, if it is going to meet future needs. Bain also pointed to the lack of ethnic minority involvement in the Fire Service and to its male bias in recruitment procedures.

It argued that if its recommendations on community fire safety, conditions of service and so on were accepted by all parties, then firefighters should receive an 11% pay increase paid over two years.

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